LANKALIBRARY FORUM

Tigers intensifying child recruitment – UNESCO

The Island / 26JUL2005

The LTTE has intensified child recruitment during the month of July this year according to UNICEF, the BBC reported on Sunday.

The UNICEF office in Colombo said that the LTTE had recruited 28 children during July despite repeated pledges to stop child recruitment, the BBC report said adding that according to the UNICEF, there had only been 18 cases in June.

The report added: "The agency says every time they raise the issue, the Tigers promise to "look into" the matter, but kept recruiting under-age cadres.

"Not every one is forcefully recruited. Some do join the LTTE voluntarily," Jeffrey Key, communications officer for UNICEF told BBC.

"But the child recruitment needs to stop."

The spokesman said the current no-war, no-peace situation in Sri Lanka makes it difficult to find a permanent solution to the problem.

"It is going to be very difficult to see child recruitment ends once and for all without an active peace process going on."