Somalia’s unending war was highlighted again last week when Unicef expressed its concern over the continued use of child soldiers in the near-lawless nation.
In a joint statement, Unicef and the UN’s special representatives on children and armed conflict stressed that the situation in the country, where children as young as nine are being recruited from their schools, is absolutely unacceptable. “All parties must release the children within their ranks,” they said. “Impunity must end and perpetrators brought to justice.”
As Unicef has highlighted over and over again, child soldiers are victims – and we believe that they should not only be treated as such, but also deserve extra protection and care.
We also welcome the UN’s joint statement that they are “ready to assist in the demobilisation of Somali children and help them recover their childhoods.”
However, they must first and foremost rescue these children from the hands of the armed groups. And it goes without saying the ongoing war in the country needs to be stopped to avoid the future recruiting of innocent children to fight for selfish aims.
We believe that unless the war is brought to an end, there cannot be any guarantee that Somalia’s young will have “a childhood free from the terrors of armed conflict”.
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