UN released a report focusing on children being used and killed in conflicts in 20 countries
In a report titled Children and Armed Conflict, United Nations (UN) said that Naxalites are recruiting children in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
UN recently released a report focusing on children being used and killed in conflicts in 20 countries.
The report claimed that Naxals recruited children through lottery systems in Jharkhand. “In addition, three incidents of recruitment and use of children were reported in Jammu and Kashmir in the context of clashes with national security forces. One case was attributed to Jaish-e-Mohammed and two to Hizbul Mujahideen,” the report added.
“Sometimes, people allow their kids to be taken under pressure. But they are mostly boys above 16 years of age,” CRPF chief Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar told .
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These young recruits, called ‘baal dastas’, have traditionally been used by Maoists as informers, carriers or for technical jobs, but due to the drop in the strength of Maoists over the years, they were using them in combat roles, an official told TOI on condition of anonymity.
The report also claimed that verified cases of recruitment and use of children quadrupled in the Central African Republic (299) and doubled in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1,049) compared to 2016.