Rebels Recruiting Children, U.N. Says
The United Nations said Friday that it had received reports of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers recruiting tsunami-displaced children, and that it had told the rebels to leave underage survivors alone.
UNICEF said three children were reported to have been recruited in Sri Lanka’s east, where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam control large pockets of jungle.
“Recruitment ... was an issue before the tsunami. It’s an issue that continues to be of concern,” said Ted Chaiban, UNICEF’s Sri Lankan representative.
“We know of three cases of reported underage recruitment that took place in the east,” he said. “We said [to the rebels] ... ‘You send out instructions that no child that has been displaced by the tsunami should in any way be affected or harassed by any person.’ ”
Two of the children have been reunited with their family, but a 15-year-old girl is still missing from a camp for the homeless, Chaiban said.
The rebels deny recruiting children, saying many youngsters lie about their age to join the group.
The Tigers relied heavily on child soldiers during a bloody two-decade war for autonomy, a conflict that has been in limbo for three years under a cease-fire.
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