Introduction

Abstract

The practice of child soldiering is an international phenomenon that dates back to the era of World Wars, during which many children participated in hostilities, such as the conscription of the Nazi juvenile soldiers known as the Hitlerjugend. Children have been used as soldiers worldwide. In Asia, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia used young soldiers, as did the Sri Lankan rebel group and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in war against the Sinhalese government, while children in El Salvador and Nicaragua have also been involved in fighting. In addition to these cases, child fighters have operated in Afghanistan, Angola, Colombia, DRC, Indonesia, Liberia, Libya, Mozambique, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Rwanda, Timor-Leste and Uganda. They are used by governments and rival government forces or non-government forces, and are considered as a part of new war strategies whereby children are sent to the front lines of unconventional wars, around the globe. Child fighters go through brutal recruitment; they are forcibly separated from their families and mostly boys are coerced to participate in military activities and all sorts of warfare.