July 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil
Tiger rebels and a breakaway faction seen allied to the government are
both still recruiting children as soldiers, despite promises not to, United
Nations childrens' agency UNICEF said on Monday. Here are some key facts
about the island's underage fighters:
HOW MANY ARE THERE?:
-- More than 5,600 underage fighters have been recruited or re-recruited since a 2002 ceasefire that broke down last year, the vast majority of them by the Tamil Tigers. UNICEF says these are minimum figures as access to check in some areas is difficult and cases may be under-reported because of fear.
HOW OLD ARE THEY?:
-- The average age of recent child recruits in 2007 is 16 years, according to the UN, though children much younger were recruited at earlier stages of the conflict. Some 60 per cent are boys and 40 per cent girls.
WHAT'S THE LEGAL AGE FOR FIGHTERS?:
-- 18. The UN's 2002 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child raised the minimum age from 15 to 18 for recruitment into armed groups, compulsory government recruitment, or direct participation in hostilities.
-- Enlisting children under 15 years old is defined as a war crime by the International Criminal Court's 1998 Rome Statute.
WHO ARE THEY FIGHTING FOR?:
-- The Tamil Tigers have fought for an independent state in the north and east of the Indian Ocean island for ethnic minority Tamils since 1983. They require each family contribute at least one member to their forces, UNICEF says, but have pledged to weed child soldiers out of their ranks by the end of 2007.
-- The renegade Karuna Faction split off from the Tamil Tigers in 2004, accusing the mainstream group of discrimination. It has been rebuked by the United Nations for actively recruiting child soldiers.
-- UNICEF lists 1,591 outstanding cases of underage recruitment by the Tigers as of the end of May, of whom 506 are currently under 18 years old. The Karuna faction has recruited 198 children, 152 of whom are still currently under 18, it said. HOW ARE THEY RECRUITED?:
-- Some volunteer. But in many cases children are forcibly recruited and abducted, sometimes by armed rebels.
-- Recruitment often takes place in circumstances designed to add to a climate of fear in communities, the UN has said. The strategy's success is reflected in falling school attendance in affected areas.
HOW DOES SRI LANKA COMPARE GLOBALLY?:
-- The United Nations estimates more than 250,000 child soldiers are currently active in about 30 global conflicts.
-- Sri Lanka was one of 19 situations of concern cited in a 2006 report by the UN Secretary General. Four other Asian countries -- Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal and the Philippines -- were highlighted, but Africa has the biggest number of child soldiers.
Sources: Reuters, United Nations Children and Armed Conflict Website (www.un.org/children/conflict/english/home6.html), UNICEF, Coalition to stop the use of Child Soldiers (www.child-soldiers.org)