The Experience of Children
The lives of children and young people during conflict changes drastically. It becomes very difficult to enjoy a carefree childhood or adolescence as would be normal in times of peace.
During the armed conflict, Colombia’s children and young people lived under threat of being separated from their loved ones, were sometimes caught in the crossfire of the violence occurring around them, and some were even forced to be child soldiers. Furthermore, access to education was limited and many young people were left with both physical and psychological traumas.
Recruitment into Armed Conflict
Sadly children are recruited and used in armed conflicts in countries all around the world and Colombia is no exception. Thousands of children and young people were forced to work as cooks, messengers, spies, soldiers and coca farmers (a crop used to make the drug cocaine).
There are a number of factors that contribute to the recruitment of children and young people into armed conflict such as poverty, becoming an orphan and lack of access to education. A culture of violence is created and can become normalised in situations of armed conflict, and where there is a lack of opportunity in areas such as education and young people bear witness to their loved ones being killed, they may be driven to join armed groups as a way to enact revenge, feel a sense of status, it may be seen as the only available opportunity or they are forced to join.
Families often leave their home in search of somewhere safer to live and may become internally displaced. With nowhere to call home, they can become more vulnerable as they lose their social and support networks and thus become soft targets for recruitment into armed groups.
As part of the Peace Deal negotiations the FARC agreed to release all child soldiers under the age of 15 from their ranks. The released children were not charged as criminals but instead entered a reintegration programme to help them adjust back into civilian life.
It is against international humanitarian law to recruit children into an armed group.