 Child
soldiers in Nepal |
 In the period of nine years of conflict, more than 1200 children have been
directly affected by the violence ignited by the operations carried out
by the government and the Maoists, after the "People's War" was waged by
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in February 1996. Among the victimised
children, 361 (256 boys and 105 girls) have already died while around 314
(208 boys, 99 girls and 7 are unknown) children have been injured. During
this period, it has been recorded that around 213 children have been arrested
while 15521 children have been abducted.
In the period of January - December 2004, 88 children (67 boys and 21 girls)
have been killed and 169 children (118 boys, 43 girls and 7 of them unknown)
have been injured. Around 14,920 children were 'abducted'. 120 children
have been arrested this year. 3 rape cases of girl child by the Maoists
and state security force have also been reported in the news this year.
During this period, security forces have arrested hundreds of children
below 18 years of age.
Almost more than 2,000 children have been orphaned; while around more than
8,000 children have been displaced due to the armed conflict.
Thousands of children have been forced to work in vulnerable situations
in brick kilns, stone quarries and wool spinning mills, while others have
become domestic workers and few have landed on the streets of urban centres.
Education of thousands of school going children is hampered. Hundreds of
schools have been closed down and the frequent strikes have disturbed the
pace of education greatly.
Though some human rights activists and journalists have claimed that the
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is using child soldiers, the number has
not been independently ascertained.
Source:
Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) 2005
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