[00:08.12]Passage 65 Child Soldiers
[00:13.56]Representatives of governments and organizations from about twenty countries
[00:21.50]met in Kathmandu Nepal recently
[00:26.02]for a four-day conference on child soldiers.
[00:30.98]The conference was organized by a group of international human rights
[00:37.30]organizations called the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
[00:44.85]At the end of their conference,the delegates called
[00:49.58]for a worldwide ban on child soldiers.
[00:54.73]Rory Mungoven was the chief planner of the meeting in Nepal.
[01:00.37]Mister mungoven says children are fighting
[01:04.89]in almost every current conflict in Asia.
[01:10.24]He says Asia is second only to Africa
[01:14.76]in its widespread use of child soldiers.
[01:19.78]A recent Coalition report says children are being used
[01:25.52]as soldiers in Afghanistan,Burma,Cambodia,SriLanka and other countries
[01:33.96]Mister Mungoven says many rebel groups use children as fighters
[01:40.88]Such groups include Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and separatists
[01:47.81]in the Philippines and Kashmir.
[01:51.75]However,children do not only fight for rebel groups.
[01:57.39]The report says child soldiers can be found in the Burmese
[02:03.53]government's armed forces,for example.
[02:07.48]And,several countries permit children in their late teenage years
[02:13.80]to join the armed forces.
[02:17.04]The Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers
[02:23.28]says more than 300,000 children
[02:27.72]are fighting in conflicts in more than thirty countries around the world.
[02:34.04]Human Rights Watch is a member of the Coalition
[02:39.90]to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
[02:43.94]The human rights group says the children who become soldiers are often poor
[02:51.39]separated from their families,or living in a battle area.
[02:57.42]They usually do not have much education or chance to get an education
[03:04.76]Mister Mungoven says people seeking child soldiers
[03:10.41]will put pressure on teachers,familie and community leaders.
[03:16.15]The children also are promised food or security.
[03:22.29]Other children are kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers
[03:29.11]Human Rights Watch says children in armed groups may become cooks
[03:36.16]guards or spies.However,the group says children may also be forced
[03:43.50]into situations that are more dangerous.
[03:47.55]Sometimes children are placed into battle immediately.
[03:53.69]They also may be used to explore minefields ahead of older troops.
[04:01.63]And sometimes they are ordered to carry out military operations
[04:07.77]that are sure to lead to their deaths. |