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Child
soldiers 'still recruited by Maoists' |
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KATHMANDU,
21 February 2007 (IRIN)
The
United Nations and several aid agencies in Nepal on Wednesday strongly
urged the former Maoist rebels to return child soldiers to their families.
Despite the peace agreement signed in November 2006, child soldiers have
not been discharged by the Maoist People's Liberation Army (PLA), although
it has persistently denied recruiting children.
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| The
Maoist group, also known as the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M),
waged an armed rebellion against the Nepalese state for more than a decade,
demanding a communist republic and a new constitution.
Peace
prevailed after successful talks with the government of an alliance of
seven national parties after the end of direct rule by the Nepalese monarch,
King Gyanendra, in April 2006.
But
when the Maoists agreed to a UN-supervised management of weapons and troops,
releasing the child soldiers was totally ignored by the Maoist leaders. |
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"The
Maoists have failed to accept the recruitment of children into their army
and party but the reality is that they are being hidden inside their camps,"
said prominent child rights activist Gauri Pradhan, president of Child
Workers in Nepal (CWIN), which has been fighting the political and economic
exploitation of children.
Pradhan
added that the activists investigating the issue of child soldiers in the
field had enough evidence that the Maoists have not been truthful.
The
report by the UN Secretary-General on "Children and Armed Conflict in Nepal",
released on Wednesday, provided evidence with Publicationed cases that children
continue to be recruited and used in various capacities.
The
report, prepared by a task force of a coalition of international and national
child protection agencies, initially found at least 512 cases of child
recruitment in September 2006. As more investigations followed, the task
force found more than 1,811 children associated with the armed forces and
armed groups, also known as CAAFAG.
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| "Very
few boys and girls who were taken away from their homes have returned.
We urge the CPN-M to stop the recruitment of children," said Matthew Kahane,
the UN resident coordinator.
He asked the CPN-M to cooperate with the UN
and child protection agencies to ensure the release of children associated
with the PLA, militia and other CPN-M organisations.
There
is no accurate estimate of the numbers of child soldiers but according
to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, about 20 percent of
the 30,000 soldiers in the Maoist army are younger than 18. |
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"The
Maoists still have the opportunity to release the child soldiers as our
protection agencies are prepared to provide full support towards their
rehabilitation and reintegration into mainstream society, but the constant
denial by the Maoist leaders is only causing more damage to these children,"
said Pradhan.
The
UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) has completed the first phase of registering
combatants and arms and is poised to start the second phase of registration
and will also look into the issue of child soldiers.
"We
have to ensure the demobilisation of child soldiers and we look forward
to working with various agencies as the task moves forward," said the UN
Secretary-General's personal representative in Nepal, Ian Martin, who also
heads UNMIN.
Local
and international activists say the Maoist leadership is not able to control
their junior cadres at local level in the villages where the children continue
to be recruited into the Maoist army.
Credit
IRIN 2007
Copyright
© UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2007
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Integrated
Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). |
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