10-11-2003, 06:28 AM
<span style='font-size:25pt;line-height:100%'>LTTE's Child Soldier Drive Gains Momentum </span>
10 October 2003
COLOMBO, Oct 10 (OneWorld) - Last week, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels kidnapped five schoolboys from eastern Sri Lanka, even as a new report says they have intensified their child recruitment drive, abducting children from schools and temples: making a mockery of recent efforts to rehabilitate child soldiers.
The boys were abducted along with 17 other youths, most of them aged below 20.
Ironically, the rebels also handed over 49 child soldiers to the UNICEF for rehabilitation in their new transit camp.
The boys from Valachchanai in the Eastern district of Batticoloa were abducted last Saturday while playing in the village council grounds after a tuition class.
After the abduction, parents and teachers of the abducted boys rushed to the LTTE office in Valachchanai, but the rebels denied any involvement in the incident.
This Monday, irate villagers, clergy and teachers staged a joint protest in the LTTE - controlled area.
The following day the rebels held a press conference admitting the children were with them.
Deputy leader of the LTTE's political wing in the Batticoloa district, Krishnan claimed that, "The children joined us voluntarily, we didn't abduct them."
The UNICEF office in Colombo issued a statement condemning the abduction - "The continued recruitment of children is completely unacceptable, and this type of action undermines the work and commitment of the LTTE towards making the Action Plan for Children Affected by War, a success."
But civil society groups feel UNICEF should have put the screws on the rebels much earlier.
Remarks the research officer of a leading Colombo-based nongovernmental organization, "There's strong evidence that UNICEF was aware of the major recruitment drive in the East and had proof that the LTTE had recruited nearly 1000 minors in July alone."
Most of these children were directly recruited from schools, during visits by LTTE leaders.
He adds, "Had the UNICEF exposed the rebels at that point, the LTTE would have been pressured to reduce the pace of the recruitment drive."
But as the chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Professor Harendra De Silva says, "We understand UNICEF's dilemma. To expose the LTTE then would have prevented the rebels from sending child combatants to the rehabilitation camp."
He condemns UNICEF in no uncertain terms, remarking that, "It has failed in its duty to take the LTTE to task, which would have prevented hundreds of children from plunging into their hands."
It appears the latter have again stepped up their recruitment drive.
In a report released this week, Sri Lankan human rights watchdog, University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), has slammed the LTTE, noting that, "Contrary to all expectations of the agreement signed with the UNICEF to oversee the demobilization of child soldiers, the LTTE has once again intensified its conscription programme, renewing its demand for one child per family in several eastern districts, while making aggressive intrusions upon school children in the North."
The UTHR (J) further alleges that in a new move the LTTE is targeting children attending religious festivals, a factor which is forcing parents to avoid taking children to such ceremonies.
The abducted include 14-year-old Kandasamy Kumar and 16-year-old Daniel Yogeswaran.
Kumar was abducted on September 20 while observing a religious ritual at a temple in Batticoloa. LTTE men blindfolded him and took him away.
Yogeswaran was abducted on September 9, while attending a temple festival in Eravur, Batticoloa.
Last Saturday's abduction reminded residents of Batticoloa district of a similar mass abduction in January this year, in which ten 16-year-old youths were abducted by the LTTE while returning from a tuition class.
Even the Sri Lankan army acknowledges that child recruitment continues unchecked.
Says the Officer in Charge of the Valanchanai unit, Major Berty Perera, "Abduction and recruitment of children have come to stay in the Eastern province. Since much of it occurs in LTTE-controlled areas where we lack access, no one knows the exact number of children abducted or voluntarily recruited."
He adds that, "Last week's incident received publicity because it occurred in the border of the government controlled area."
The Sri Lankan government appears to be helpless in controlling the LTTE. As Minister of Water Management, Lakshman Seneviratne, declares, "We strongly condemn the recruitment and abduction of minors by the LTTE, and request UNICEF to exercize their mandate to the maximum and put an end to it."
For his part, though, LTTE official spokesperson, Daya Master dismisses the charges against them as baseless. "We deny all the abduction charges, which are made by spoilers of the peace process. There's a strong campaign to tarnish the LTTE's image," he says.
He claims that, "Children have joined us voluntarily, and we hope to send them back to their parents through the rehabilitation program."
http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/70153/1/
10 October 2003
COLOMBO, Oct 10 (OneWorld) - Last week, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels kidnapped five schoolboys from eastern Sri Lanka, even as a new report says they have intensified their child recruitment drive, abducting children from schools and temples: making a mockery of recent efforts to rehabilitate child soldiers.
The boys were abducted along with 17 other youths, most of them aged below 20.
Ironically, the rebels also handed over 49 child soldiers to the UNICEF for rehabilitation in their new transit camp.
The boys from Valachchanai in the Eastern district of Batticoloa were abducted last Saturday while playing in the village council grounds after a tuition class.
After the abduction, parents and teachers of the abducted boys rushed to the LTTE office in Valachchanai, but the rebels denied any involvement in the incident.
This Monday, irate villagers, clergy and teachers staged a joint protest in the LTTE - controlled area.
The following day the rebels held a press conference admitting the children were with them.
Deputy leader of the LTTE's political wing in the Batticoloa district, Krishnan claimed that, "The children joined us voluntarily, we didn't abduct them."
The UNICEF office in Colombo issued a statement condemning the abduction - "The continued recruitment of children is completely unacceptable, and this type of action undermines the work and commitment of the LTTE towards making the Action Plan for Children Affected by War, a success."
But civil society groups feel UNICEF should have put the screws on the rebels much earlier.
Remarks the research officer of a leading Colombo-based nongovernmental organization, "There's strong evidence that UNICEF was aware of the major recruitment drive in the East and had proof that the LTTE had recruited nearly 1000 minors in July alone."
Most of these children were directly recruited from schools, during visits by LTTE leaders.
He adds, "Had the UNICEF exposed the rebels at that point, the LTTE would have been pressured to reduce the pace of the recruitment drive."
But as the chairman of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) Professor Harendra De Silva says, "We understand UNICEF's dilemma. To expose the LTTE then would have prevented the rebels from sending child combatants to the rehabilitation camp."
He condemns UNICEF in no uncertain terms, remarking that, "It has failed in its duty to take the LTTE to task, which would have prevented hundreds of children from plunging into their hands."
It appears the latter have again stepped up their recruitment drive.
In a report released this week, Sri Lankan human rights watchdog, University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR), has slammed the LTTE, noting that, "Contrary to all expectations of the agreement signed with the UNICEF to oversee the demobilization of child soldiers, the LTTE has once again intensified its conscription programme, renewing its demand for one child per family in several eastern districts, while making aggressive intrusions upon school children in the North."
The UTHR (J) further alleges that in a new move the LTTE is targeting children attending religious festivals, a factor which is forcing parents to avoid taking children to such ceremonies.
The abducted include 14-year-old Kandasamy Kumar and 16-year-old Daniel Yogeswaran.
Kumar was abducted on September 20 while observing a religious ritual at a temple in Batticoloa. LTTE men blindfolded him and took him away.
Yogeswaran was abducted on September 9, while attending a temple festival in Eravur, Batticoloa.
Last Saturday's abduction reminded residents of Batticoloa district of a similar mass abduction in January this year, in which ten 16-year-old youths were abducted by the LTTE while returning from a tuition class.
Even the Sri Lankan army acknowledges that child recruitment continues unchecked.
Says the Officer in Charge of the Valanchanai unit, Major Berty Perera, "Abduction and recruitment of children have come to stay in the Eastern province. Since much of it occurs in LTTE-controlled areas where we lack access, no one knows the exact number of children abducted or voluntarily recruited."
He adds that, "Last week's incident received publicity because it occurred in the border of the government controlled area."
The Sri Lankan government appears to be helpless in controlling the LTTE. As Minister of Water Management, Lakshman Seneviratne, declares, "We strongly condemn the recruitment and abduction of minors by the LTTE, and request UNICEF to exercize their mandate to the maximum and put an end to it."
For his part, though, LTTE official spokesperson, Daya Master dismisses the charges against them as baseless. "We deny all the abduction charges, which are made by spoilers of the peace process. There's a strong campaign to tarnish the LTTE's image," he says.
He claims that, "Children have joined us voluntarily, and we hope to send them back to their parents through the rehabilitation program."
http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/70153/1/
Truth 'll prevail