Genocide Watch calls for international mission to protect Sudanese children
Moatinoon
In a report published today, Genocide Watch called on international actors to intensify their efforts to free child soldiers, reintegrate them into local communities, and provide them with educational opportunities, in accordance with the Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups.
The organization said the UN Security Council should authorize the reconstitution of a strong joint UN-AU force to stop these crimes.
The AU and UN called for the deployment of 10,000 troops to re-establish their peacekeeping mission in Sudan.
The organization said the ongoing conflict in Sudan has created a severe child protection crisis. It noted that more than 10 million children have been subjected to brutal violence due to indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces. It said many have witnessed the killing of their families, the destruction of their homes, and the slaughter of entire villages. More than 200 children, some as young as one year old, have been raped.
The organization said that both the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and allied forces recruited children. It cited videos of child soldiers from across Sudan on social media.
Siobhan Mullally, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, reported that the RSF targeted unaccompanied and poor children from the outskirts of Khartoum, as well as children from Arab tribes in Darfur and West Kordofan. It also received information indicating that more than 600 child soldiers from the RSF were killed or injured during fighting in Khartoum in August 2023. In River Nile State, children as young as ten were issued loaded machine guns.
The organizations report indicated that many children were harassed or intimidated by the armed forces, and others were pushed to join militias as a means of escaping the extreme poverty prevalent in Sudan. It stated that some families view recruitment as work, and that parents push their children into the army.
The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary slavery, Tomoya Obokata, stated that recruiting children in exchange for food and safety constitutes forced labor and contemporary slavery under international law.
The report identified local leaders as key intermediaries for child recruitment in Sudan, acting at the behest of local commanders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) or allied militias. Tradition and customs also play an important role in encouraging children to join both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The tradition of "fazaa" allows tribal leaders to mobilize their members, including children, to participate in combat.
The organization warned that this hostile environment, coupled with the worsening humanitarian crisis, has made children vulnerable to organized crime gangs and the risk of recruitment by warring parties.
It emphasized the role of the United Nations in developing child-sensitive reintegration and rehabilitation programs for children formerly associated with armed forces and groups, as well as gender-sensitive assistance services and programs focused on survivors of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
