In Somalia, children are taken out of School to Become Soldiers

SOS
Monday, February 27, 2012

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Reports are surfacing that Al Shabaab is taking Somali children out of schools to be used as soldiers and human shields.

According to a recent report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW), entitled "No Place for Children," outlines how, while the use of child soldiers is not new in Somalia, the scale and violent nature of these abductions has reached unprecedented levels.

The locations in which abductions take place have expanded as well, as they are increasingly including schools and playgrounds.

A HRW researcher who worked on the report claimed that "Over the course of the last two years, Al Shabaab has increasingly been forcibly abducting children — not only from their homes, but also from their schools and playing fields. The majority of children being forced to join Al Shabaab are between 14 and 17 years old, but some are as young as 10."

Most children who are are captured spend time in a 'training camp,' where they are subjected to harsh domestic work, taught how to use weapons, and witness murders and brutal assaults as a way to desensitize them for their use as soldiers.

Somali youths are targeted for purposes that are not limited to fighting, especially for girls. Forced marriage and rape are now commonplace for captured children.

Most of the information from the report has been compiled by over 164 interviews with young Somalis — including 21 who had escaped from Al Shabaab forces.

Islamic extremists have targeted schools for a myriad of purposes other than recruitment. The reported mentions that soldiers have used students and teachers as "human shields" against artillery fire from Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and African Union (AMISOM) forces.

Because schools have become such visible targets, many have shut down. Children and teachers who have not fled often fear attending school, and those that attend are no longer receiving an adequate education.

Human Rights Watch criticized the TFG using child soldiers themselves in response to Al Shabaab.

The report also highlights that the emphasis on the treatment of captured child soldiers needs to be shifted from detention and punishment to rehabilitation and protection.

In response to the allegations, Al-Shabaab has brushed aside the accusations from Human Rights Watch, saying that Islam considers people to be adults from the age of 15.

Islamic scholars consider a boy becomes a man at 15, or even younger if signs of puberty appear before then.

Human Rights Watch said this week that children as young as 10 are increasingly targeted by Al-Shabaab targets to replenish its ranks.

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