Chad Child Soldiers
At the height of hostilities there was an estimated seven to ten thousand child soldiers in Chad, shared between rebel groups and the national army itself. Although many of these child soldiers were abducted and forced into the militia, others joined up themselves. As one twelve year old boy stated "I entered the 'army' by myself. Neither my mother nor father, or anyone else asked me to join. I saw the situation in which we were living -- it was very hard. I entered the army to deal with the aggression we were suffering in my territory."
The physical dangers to these children are obvious ~ one child accidentally killed himself with a gun he had not been trained to use properly ~ and there have been many reports of child soldiers in Chad being sexually exploited and abused both by soldiers in the armed forces and by rebel groups. This together with the emotional scars and hardening of outlook during formative years perhaps creates the longest lasting effect.
Although there have been some improvements over recent years, according to a report published by the United Nations in 2011 "The recruitment and use of children by armed forces and other armed groups in Chad persists".
This video explores how UNICEF is helping with the demobilisation of child soldiers in Chad and its attempts to reintegrate them back into school and society. However for many, the process is difficult for many of the motivating factors for fighting remain, including intense poverty and no apparent future working on the land. Many also find it hard to adjust to being just a child when just days, weeks or months before, they had the power of a gun to wield influence over adults around them.
TAGS: Chad Child Soldiers, Child Soldiers in Chad, Chad Child Soldiers Video, Chad Child Soldiers Documentary, United Nations Chad Child Soldiers, Rehabilitating Child Soldiers