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| Friday, 23 January 2004 |
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LTTE recruited 709 children in 2003 - UNICEF The latest UNICEF report on children affected by war in Sri Lanka states that 709 children have been recruited by the LTTE during 2003 alone adding that they had information that at least 1,301 children were still in the LTTE. The UNICEF has compiled this report on the progress by the Partners to the Action Plan for Children affected by War, a press release issued by the UNICEF stated. Following the Oslo, Berlin and Hakone peace talks the UNICEF as asked to develop an Action Plan for Children Affected by War to monitor, report on and address child rights violations in the North East. The UNICEF stresses that if the Action Plan was to be a success and to address the rights of children affected by war the LTTE must cease all recruitment of children and also release all child soldiers. The UNICEF in its latest report states that during 2003 a total of 202 children were released either to the recently established transit centre at Kilinochchi or directly back to their families by the LTTE. During August, September and October recruitment of children to the LTTE increased with reports of 304 instances of child recruitment within this three months. "In the last two months of the year, reported recruitment fell with 17 reported cases in November and 14 in December," the release added. The report states 20 children have been killed 17 children were maimed in 2003 alone in the North and East. Elaborating on the children's situation in the North and East, the report states that an estimated 50,000 children in the affected region were out of school and around 140,000 have been displaced from their homes. "In the North-East there is a serious deficit of education and health staff. More than 5,800 additional Tamil medium and 200 Sinhala medium teachers are needed," the report added. |
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