Child Soldiers

Child Soldiers Map and Information

This map lists ten different countries that all engage in child soldiers and ranks them from 1 - 9 and will often list a number twice as they are considered on par with each other on how horrible the rate is. 1 is ranked as the worst and 9 is ranked as the least bad. These countries will also list different things stating information about the child soldiers in that country in particular. 
To explain, a child soldier is simply a soldier recruited into an army who is under eighteen or under the usual age that is required for you to sign up for the military. These children come into the armies in many different ways. Some think the army will help support their family through the money, some think they are just going to be cooks and porters, some are kidnapped off of the streets and sold to the armies as suicide bombers and soldiers. They all come into the armies in different ways.

 

Just in case the map bugs out here's the information.

Somalia 

Due to the ongoing war between the Somali government and the rebellion named Al Shabaab, many child soldiers have been used to fight. UN now believe that over half of the soldiers in the war. Al Shabaab are not the only ones to recruit soldiers though, the Somali National Army had as many as 920 reported cases of recruitment of people under 18. It is not only boys that are used though, while girls are not used as soldiers, but they are also forced into marriage with the other Al Shabaab soldiers or even forced into being sex slaves in brothels. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 1.

Syria

Because of the civil war between the three ends, children have been recruited, killed, injured and displaced from their homes. The children recruited have been recruited to ISIS. ISIS recruit these children as soldiers in their armies and suicide bombers. The ISIS people recruit their children through many means, even telling some that they were the victims themselves. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 1.

The Democratic Republic of The Congo

It is quite unclear to me who the DRC are warring with now, but currently and in the past both this country and the ones that had warred with it were accused of the use of children in their military ranks. I believe that the DRC are now at war with their own rebels only, but it is unclear whether they currently, or ever in fact, used child soldiers.  This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 3.

Sudan

It is Southern Sudan that recruits child soldiers into their armies to fight in the Southern Sudanese Civil War. Most of these child soldiers are slowly being released, but there are still reportedly 19,000 soldiers in the armies. Due to minimal information, from what I have gathered, I believe these children fight on both sides of the war, for the Sudanese Government and the opposing force. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 3.

Afghanistan

Since the wars in Afghanistan, children have both willingly joined and forced into the armed forces of the war. The soldiers are mainly male, as they are in most countries, and the females are forced into marriages with the army commanders. I do not know if this is still current, as laws have been issued against such acts. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 5.

Colombia

While there are no current legitimate wars going on in Colombia, groups of rebels have reportedly recruited child soldiers in the past. Both boys and girls were recruited and trained to fight in the days of the Colombian Conflict. The war has since been ended after over fifty years of conflict between the government and the rebellion. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 6.

Central African Republic

Because of the countries current wars, child soldiers have been recruited by the same forces fighting the government, mainly the anti-balaka and the Seleka forces. Over 14,000 of these children have been recruited to fight in the Central African Republic Civil War against the government. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 7.

Myanmar (Burma)

This country has been suffering from internal conflicts since 1948. The country signed an agreement back in 2012 to do with the abolishment of child soldiers, even so there are still children engaged in the conflicts and security forces. But since 2012 they have discharged 849 of these child soldiers. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 8.

Iraq

The forces loyal to the Assad government have been recruiting children as of 2018. They have been recruiting from countries such as Afghanistan and Iran. This is all just so they can become child soldiers to fight in the Syrian Civil War. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 9.

Yemen

Yemen's current cause of disarray in the Yemeni Civil War, the two main forces are led by the current Yemeni President Hadi and the pro-government forces, and the Former President Saleh and the anti-government forces, known as the Houthis. The young children of this country are recruited to defend the borders against the Houthis. This is labelled as extreme and ranked as a number 9.

Child Soldiers SEEL Paragraph

Why are children used in war and how does this take away their Human Rights and Freedom?

These children, who've been recruited and kidnapped and convinced of a better life, have become slaves to the armies of war. These armies force them into suicidal acts and they get nothing out of it. The armies use children because they are naive and weak, they can convince them that their human rights don't exist. They can convince these children into becoming killers of their own families, just to prove that they are to be children of war and bloodshed. These children never get any education, a broken human right, some of these children never a choice whether they want to engage in the 'job' or not, a broken human right, some of these children never get to participate in the cultural parts of their lives, a broken human right. Children are used in war because they are expansible to the military leaders, the poverty in these countries leaves children poor and constantly in need of jobs and money. There are always children who will be in need of a job and money, and when there is no one else turn to they turn the military. Most of these children were convinced they'd never have to hold a gun, most of these children were kidnapped or sold. Most of these children have become slaves to the wars of the world and have lost everything, human rights, freedom and life.