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MORE THAN 80 children, some as young as eight-years-old, have been rescued from an armed group in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and are being reunited with their families, the UN said.
The 82 youngsters, including 13 girls, had been recruited by force by the Mai Mai Bakata-Katanga militia who are active in the restive province of Katanga, the UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) said in a statement.
The youngsters, aged eight to 17, were separated from the militia on 11 and 15 August thanks to the joint effort of local child protection agencies in the province, MONUSCO added. The children had reportedly been recruited over the past six months.
Forty of the rescued children “were immediately reunited with their families, while the remaining are receiving interim care pending reunification,” the statement read.
Active recruitment
MONUSCO head Martin Kobler said the UN was “extremely concerned” about ongoing reports of active recruitment by armed groups in eastern DR Congo.
“Children face unacceptable risks when they are recruited for military purposes,” he said.
“The recruitment of children, particularly those under 15 years of age, could constitute a war crime and those responsible must be held to account.”
MONUSCO estimates that 163 children, including 22 girls, have been separated from Mai Mai Bakata-Katanga fighters since the beginning of the year.
Tensions
Katanga, the home province of President Joseph Kabila, is regularly engulfed by secessionist unrest dating back to 1960 when the mining province announced it was seceding from the rest of the nation, triggering a long series of wars and rebellions.
Katanga province is the richest part of the country, with various mineral resources including copper, which is the mainstay of foreign exports.
Tensions have been rising in recent months, with the Bakata-Katanga complaining about what it sees as the unequal distribution of wealth between the poorer northern parts of the province and the richer southern areas, where foreign firms operate.
In March, clashes erupted between army troops and the militia group, including child fighters, in the provincial capital of Lubumbashi, leaving 23 dead.
- © AFP 2013.
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And we still insist on sending Foreign Aid to this country …..
Actually no, we don’t. Irish Aid supports projects in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia, which all border DRC, but there is no direct Irish funding into the country (though there is most probably indirect funding through UN and EU projects).
I wouldn’t we support these countries. It is not the army that is abusing these children but lawless gangs.
The other part of this story is that these rescued children don’t live ”happy ever after…” They live with phsycological problems for years.
Added to that often families struggle to accept these ”tainted” kids back.
They need our support.
The aid, hopefully, goes to the innocent victims…not the perpetrators.
Did somebody say democratic or dictatorship, because they’re not the same.
After hearing horror stories like these, I doubt he went to a reputable medical school.
Dr. Congo, I presume?
What ever happened to kony and the 40,000 children he kidnapped ??
DR Congo stands for Democratic Republic of Congo .
Kony just signed for Everton from Wigan.
Very democratic ,do you think
It was a reply to Sarah Walker , seems she is a bit confused .
We should not be giving any aid when we are borrowing money to survive
have your say