Posts

Showing posts from April 29, 2018

Why it’s hard to get South Sudan’s former child soldiers back to school

More than 200 child soldiers have been freed from armed groups in South Sudan. The 112 boys and 95 girls, all under the age of 18, took part in a “laying down of arms ceremony” after which efforts will be made to reunite them with their families and their reintegration process will begin. The children were part of a new civil war that broke out in the Republic of South Sudan, two years after it was granted independence from Sudan. The ongoing conflict has ripped the country apart, making the living conditions for most South Sudanese worse than ever before. Characterised as a struggle over power and resources, the conflict is driven by corruption and ethnic rivalries. The main actors are the former rebel group and political party Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition led by former Vice President Riek Machar. About 19 000 child soldiers are thought to be part of the conflict and so the

Tatmadaw sanctions 47 officers for recruiting child soldiers

Forty-Seven Tatmadaw (military) officers who recruited children to become soldiers have been sanctioned by the military, the Ministry of Defence announced in the government media. The statement, published in state-owned newspapers on Thursday, said the violations were committed by the Tatmadaw in the first year of the second term of the current government. A total of 47 military officers have faced action, said Lt Gen Sein Win wityhout giving details of the sanctions meted out against the officers. When joining the military, examinations are carried out to ensure that the recruit is at least 18 years old, including a bone X-ray. A total of 4315 future soldiers have been examined using this method, the Tatmadaw statement said. A total of 29,580 military personnel including officers have been informed of the prohibition against underage recruiting in the armed forces. The instruction is repeated once every two months, according to the statement. Moreover, a 12-member committee

Erdogan Grooming Child Martyrs

Image
A series of tweets from  AKP Watch  show young, Turkish children in Germany and Austria being indoctrinated into being the next line of soldiers and martyrs for Turkey’s Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist and expansionist agenda. AKP is Erdogan’s “Justice and Development” political party ( Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi ), the conservative, Islamist ruling party in Turkey. Erdogan’s rhetoric has become increasingly shrill of late, used to accompany his latest incursion in Afrin, Syria, a Kurdish area known for being the frontlines in the fight against ISIS. “In Germany mosques operated by the Turkish state, small children are marching in uniforms, chanting military slogans and getting prepared to die as martyr [sic] for Erdogan,” read one  tweet  that was accompanied by a  video  of the event. AKP Watch @AKP_Watch In German mosques operated by the Turkish state, small children are marching in uniforms with weapons, chanting military slogans and ge

200 CHILD SOLDIERS RELEASED TO FAMILIES IN SOUTH SUDAN

PRETORIA - Two hundred child soldiers have been released to their families in South Sudan. It’s part of a process that will see more the 1,000 child soldiers freed in the coming months. Torn by five years of civil war, South Sudan has the greatest number of child soldiers on the planet. The United Nations Children’s Fund says there are 19,000 children under arms. The programme to return them to society was boosted by the laying down of arms ceremony for 119 boys and 95 girls who were sent back to their families rather than put in an institution. The release comes weeks ahead of another round of peace talks in South Sudan. Source:  http://ewn.co.za/2018/04/19/200-child-soldiers-released-to-families-in-south-sudan

Jihadi Generations: Strategies Used for Weaponizing Children (Part 1)

Image
Violent extremist groups are using all methods possible to wage a successful long-term campaign using children.  These groups infiltrate existing systems, threaten and radicalize important players, use extreme forms of violence to attack those they perceive as non-compliant. No foundation of society is off limits be it:  hospitals, schools, religious organizations, legal institutions, law enforcement, orphanages, charities, sports, businesses, transportation, recreation or communication sites.  Every means is justified for their stated aim of a worldwide Islamic caliphate under Sharia law. The scope of this phenomenon has increased in the past decade, however the methods implemented were developed and refined during and after World War II.   No child is left behind if they can be exploited. Photos below are released by Islamic State on ISIS' preferred anonymous file sharing website- JustPaste.it - (December 2014- December 2016) While the media concentrate on the atrocities