Mozambique is among the African countries that have recruited the most children for armed conflicts, according to Naomi Haupt, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) responsible for the research as part of the ‘International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers’, which is being marked on Wednesday 12 February.
According to Lusa, the expert says that Africa is home to 40 per cent of the world’s child soldier population, estimated at 250,000 by the United Nations, especially in Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and the Sahel.
In the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, ‘Islamic militants have drastically increased the recruitment of child soldiers,’ she said.
The province has recently been the target of two cases of child abduction in less than a week, the first of which saw alleged terrorists kill one person and kidnap at least seven children during an attack in the district of Mocímboa da Praia on Thursday 31 January.
In the second case, which took place on 2 February, an alleged group of rebels kidnapped ten people, including women and children, in the village of Quinto Congresso, Macomia district.
These children ‘are used for various functions in armed conflicts, depending on the group that recruits them, namely for combat, as messengers or as sex slaves,’ said Haupt, lamenting that ‘the work they do can be dangerous and often involves serious physical and psychological abuse’.
In addition to Mozambique, DR Congo and the Sahel, ‘Nigeria, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Cameroon are also involved,’ he added.
‘Despite global efforts to raise the minimum age for recruitment into armed groups, Africa remains the region most active in recruiting child soldiers,’ he concluded.
In an official statement, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) expressed its ‘serious concern’ about the increase in child abductions by rebel groups in Cabo Delgado, warning that the victims are forced to perform combat duties, which it considers to be a ‘serious violation of the rights of minors.’
Since October 2017, the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado has been facing an armed rebellion with attacks claimed by movements associated with the extremist group Islamic State.
