Child Recruitment

Street Child in Burundi

 "Understanding Poverty and How You Can Make a Difference." Understanding Poverty and How You Can Make a Difference. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. 

    Children are considered an "economically efficient alternative to adult combatants." (1) They are easy to brainwash and are good fighters because they have not yet developed a concept of death.

       In some situations children are forcibly recruited as a result of "abduction or severely beaten into submission." (2) However, although there is no doubt that groups continue to abduct, there are other factors that result in children becoming involved in armed conflict.

     Poverty can be an essential factor for a child to join. For some children "joining armed groups ensures one meal which is why some parents give their children to the movement in the hope that they will be fed and housed." (1)

      Discrimination is also a key factor. Ethnic, tribal and religious identity are continuously linked to the cruelty of discrimination."When children witness the killing, humiliation of their parents and watch their sisters being raped, they might join out of a feeling of revenge." (1) In other words, these children at such young ages have been subjected to the experience of violence which leads to this emotional trigger of revenge. "Many children are also requested by their families and communities to play their part in the defense of the community." (1) This demonstrates a sense of nationalism that derives from these children at such a young age; to feel they have to put themselves in danger for the protection of their country.

       Therefore children are recruited by forceful enlisting by armed groups, but also children are in a sense "vulnerable." The countries where child soldiers are in high numbers, are mostly third world countries where living conditions could be simply characterized by the word 'suffering'. These children then are recruited because they believe a group will "offer income, food or security." (2)

Sources:

 "Root Causes of Child Recruitment | United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict." United Nations Office of the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for Children and Armed Conflict. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. (1)

 "About the Issues:." Child Soldiers International. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. (2)