The children from South Kivu and Orientale returned home after months and in some cases years away after recently being rescued from armed forces and groups.
Recruitment of child soldiers may be illegal in Congo but it is still widespread. Although the armed conflict between the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu since the war officially ended in 2002 recruitment of children still takes place. During 2011 until early 2012 increased conflict saw a new wave of children being taken to fight. Not until October 2012 did the government of the DRC and the United Nations officially committed to ending the recruitment and use of children by Congolese armed forces and security services by signing an Action Plan.
It is estimated that over 7,000 children have been used in these conflicts. Children’s purity is valued by many of the rebel groups such as the Mai Mai rebels, believing that the children have special powers that protect the groups from bullets. Young girls face a life of sexual abuses and are often used as sex slaves.
Not all of the returned children were taken by force from their families according to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Because of the extreme poverty of the regions involved more and more children volunteer to fight to survive or avenge their families. Once in these groups they may find themselves on the front lines or working behind the scenes as cooks, porters, messengers, scouts, mascots, spies or sex slaves.
For children who serve returning to normal life is difficult. The violence that they are exposed to leads to emotional scarring along with the lack of education and health care. In some cases those who return to their homes face rejection from the community and their own families.
Tanja Cisse, who runs civilian-protection activities for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said, “Going back to being a child or a teenager can be very difficult. We are there to prepare them, help them settle back into family life, and try to ensure they won’t be recruited again.”
The 147 boys and 5 girls that have been returned to their families were housed in Katanga at a centre run by APEDE. With help from ICRC information was obtained to trace the children’s families and help prepare the children on successful returns home.
“Alongside members of the child-protection agency, which runs this centre, we have spent several days talking to the children, in groups or one to one,” said Marie-Geneviève Nightingale, who is in charge of the ICRC’s child-protection work in the east of the country. “Using games, dance and discussion, we encourage them to think about what they can do to make their return home a success and about the risk of being recruited again, whether voluntarily or by force.”
In three months ICRC will be visiting the children to make sure that the families are coping. At that time the children will be given school supplies or be helped to start a small business. This helps to form bonds within their own community.
In 2014 over 800 children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were returned home. Thirty of these children joined their families who lived in other countries.
At the end of 2014 there were 576 children waiting to be reunited with their families living in transit centres or with host families throughout Congo.
The issue of child soldiers is not just in the Congo. In December 2014 the United Nations published a report about violations against children in South Sudan that includes killing and maiming, recruitment and use, sexual violence, abduction, attacks against schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access. From December 2013 to September 2014 over 600 have been slain according to the report.
“Six months later, we are still waiting to see boys and girls released and other meaningful actions that will help shield the country’s children from the violence,” the Special Representative said, referring to the mid-2014 pledge by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and other parties to end and prevent the use of children as well as all grave violations against children.
