10 Countries with the Highest Number of Child Soldiers

Definition-

Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by a state or non-state armed group and are used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, for sexual purposes, as messengers, or as spies. 

Below is a map showing 10 countries with some of the highest reported numbers of child soldiers

Child Soldiers

Warfare is grim enough without the involvement of young children, who if it weren't for their participation in armed conflict would still have long lives ahead of them, and the number of reported child recruitment is only growing. Figures verified in 2017 from Iraq show there were 109 reports of recruitment and use of children in warfare, and an additional 717 children were either killed or maimed. Another report, done in Syria during 2017, shows that the Syrian conflict had been the cause of 910 deaths of children, and a further 361 being severely wounded and/or crippled. The Democratic Republic of Congo is believed to be home to 10% of the entire population of child soldiers -making the Democratic Republic of Congo responsible for the use of approximately 30,000 children in armed combat. The Houthis rebel organisation in Yemen has enlisted roughly 18,000 children, and in the Central African Republic, over 10,000 children were used in warfare just between the years 2012 and 2015.

The recruitment of children in armed forces is a cruel and unjustifiable act. It gives children reason to live in fear, it deprives them of their freedom, and yet, it still happens in more than 85 countries. An investigation executed in 2018 shows that in South Sudan, there is an unbelievable number of 19,000 children in total who are apart of armed forces. Not only are these children's lives being put in jeopardy, but a large number of them had no part in enlisting themselves.

However, in contrary, many children are an exception to this statement. Although a large portion of child soldiers had no choice in their enlistment, either because of threats or the fact they were abducted, an even larger portion enlisted out of their own free will, and purely for revenge. The Séléka is an alliance of rebel military groups in the Central African Republic who can be held accountable for orphaning many children. Twelve-year-old Francois is one of these children. After his cousin and aunty were murdered by the Séléka, Francois joined the Anti-Balaka in order to avenge the deaths of his loved ones. Seventeen-year-old Choko shares a similar story, joining the Anti-Balaka after the Séléka came into her home and murdered her mother and father. These children did not see their military leaders as 'bad people', but rather as their saviours. Although in the minds of people like Francois and Choko their leaders don't seem like bad people -and why wouldn't they think that? They fed them, looked after them and "respected them"- they did exploit them, using them for their own personal advantage and putting their lives at risk.