Term Paper: Military Intervention to Protect Children

Sample Term Paper

Words 2,430

In modern day armed conflicts, often more civilians get killed than armed combatants. Sometimes armed groups target a specific groups of civilians for mass slaughter, for example the mass killings of millions of civilians, men, women and children, mostly belonging to the Tutsi ethnicity in Burundi and Rwanda in the second half of the previous century (Shattuck, 2005). Many conflicts take the shape of urban guerilla conflicts where children may not be targeted but are killed in the cross-fire.

The use of children in conducting warfare is a worldwide problem. According to the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, more than 500,000 children have been recruited into armies and militias worldwide. At any time more than 300,000 of these armed soldiers are engaged in conducting warfare. The use of child soldiers has been recorded in more than 85 countries around the world (Achvarina & Reich, 2006).

Some children may be coerced into joining a conflict; others may join out of their own free will. In areas of poverty or famine, many children are attracted towards joining the armed groups by the promises of receiving regular meals, regular wages, and protection from crime and harassment. In fact, in many conflict ridden areas, children whose parents or guardians are killed may have their best chance of survival in joining armed groups (Miers, 2000).

The use of child soldiers in a conflict, does not only endanger the child’s life and health, it also has long term consequences for the society. Children involved in conflicts often grow up uneducated; it is very difficult to give them peacetime jobs and to integrate them into society (Knight & Özerdem, 2004)

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