Islandwide campaign to bring back the child
The Office of the Commissioner General for Rehabilitation jointly
with UNICEF has launched a national campaign in ensuring legal
protection for children affected by child recruitment and in providing
care and protection for children who have been released.
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Children who are recruited are victims of crimes committed
against them |
This collaboration also resulted in the signing in December 2008 of
an Action Plan between the Government, the TMVP (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai
Pulikal), and UNICEF, together with the adoption of new special
regulations which strengthen the legal protection of children released
from armed groups.
A rehabilitation centre for former child soldiers was opened, as was
a Child Welfare Unit in Batticaloa where parents and relatives can come
and report the recruitment of their children and be provided with a
coordinated response to get the children released. The campaign, “Bring
Back the Child”, targets armed groups, vulnerable communities and the
children affected.
The campaign’s call for child recruitment to stop goes hand in hand
with the provision of reintegration and rehabilitation services for
children who are released.
‘Bring back the Child’ will air on television, radio and through
newspapers, billboards and posters across the country, with a focus on
the north and east, and in Sinhalese, Tamil and English.
“The Government has a zero tolerance policy on the recruitment of
children, and the recruitment of anyone under the age of 18 to take part
in hostilities is against both Sri Lankan and international law,” said
Rehabilitation Commissioner General, Suhada Gamlath. “This campaign
reinforces the message that children who are recruited are victims of
crimes committed against them.
Children released or escaping from armed groups have nothing to fear
- they will be treated as children in need of immediate support.”
It is a multimedia campaign that calls on those who recruit children
to stop, and for those children currently in their ranks to be released
so that they can return to their families and have access to services
including health care, psychosocial support, education and vocational
training. Concurrently ‘Bring Back the Child’ will strengthen the
capacity of communities to protect children against the threats of
recruitment.
“Child soldiers live in a theatre of violence and suffering where
their lives are at great risk,” said UNICEF’s Representative in Sri
Lanka Philippe Duamelle. “Many are killed or maimed. Those survive
suffer traumatic events with often grave psychological implications.
Even those who avoid combat lose precious years that cannot be replaced.
Instead of having hope for the future these children live in fear of
what tomorrow may bring. However, following their release they can and
they do adapt if they are given a second chance at childhood. This
campaign is one part of that.”
UNICEF has been monitoring and reporting on child recruitment in Sri
Lanka since 2002. In this time nearly 7,000 children have been reported
to UNICEF by their families as having been recruited to armed groups.
Between 2002 and 2009, some of these child soldiers were released,
others passed the age of 18, some are still trapped as child soldiers,
and some have been killed in the conflict. |
