At a ceremony on Tuesday, 280 child soldiers were released in Gumuruk, South Sudan, following a peace agreement between President Salva Kiir’s government and the South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) Cobra Faction militant group in Jonglei State.
The boys, aged between 11 and 17, sat huddled in rows, some wearing premier league football shirts, others still in their flag-emblazoned khakis. There to lay down their weapons and enter reintegration programmes run by Unicef and various local partner organisations, the ceremony was emotional.
Many more boys will follow them. In the coming weeks, up to 3,000 are set to be freed from the Cobra Faction in what Unicef has called one of the “largest ever demobilisations of children”.
I don’t know how long I’ve been with the faction – I don’t know how to count
For 12-year-old Paul, one of the boys who is to be reintegrated after fighting with the faction, his release signals the return to a lost childhood: “Now I want to go to school. I have never been to school.”
The release is a moment of hope amidst a civil war that has escalated in South Sudan since December 2013, while peace talks between the main parties continue to stutter and stall. Conservative estimates suggest well over 10,000 people have been killed since fighting began, with an estimated 1.9 million displaced – more than half of them children.
Addressing the crowd, the UN’s South Sudan representative Jonathan Veitch told the boys: “Your future will be much better if you take your uniforms off and you become children again.”
The children recited their military chant for one last time, Katy Migiro reported for Reuters. One of their former leaders cried, wiping tears from his face as he told them: “That song that you have sung, that is an adult struggle.”
The journey to war varies for the children of South Sudan. More than 12,000 children have been recruited into armed groups, Unicef says.
Doune Porter, a Unicef representative who was present for the children’s release told the Guardian that in the case of the areas where the Cobra Faction are active “children are armed very young to protect cattle. It’s not unusual to see very young children carrying weapons, so it’s not a huge step to then join an armed group.”
“I joined three years ago. There was nothing here for us in Pibor – no roads or hospitals or schools. Sometimes there was no food,” says 12-year old Steven. Children are also drawn to the military as it can provide food, shelter, water, and most importantly, if paradoxically, safety, Porter says.
Despite its offer of apparent security, Steven says that “life in the faction is not good. There is no rest. The commanders are always ordering us to go out on missions. We are moving all the time. Even when we children get tired, there is no rest.”
James, who is 13, says he joined after the deaths of his sister, uncle, and other family members. “I was able to kill because I was able to shoot a gun.”
“If I had children I would never let them be soldiers,” he says.
A report published in August 2014 says the civil war has undone years of positive work that had made significant steps towards ending the use of child soldiers in South Sudan – which is prohibited both by national and international law.
Porter says Unicef has worked closely with the Sudan People’s Liberation Front (SPLA) for many years to prevent the use of children in South Sudan’s army, and that up until 2013 “enormous” progress had been made collaboratively with the government’s central command, who had even established a child protection unit.
“But when the conflict erupted, that progress was halted, and has been massively reversed,” says Porter.
Now, once again the presence of children in military uniform armed with assault rifles has become a common sight across South Sudan.
‘Reintegration’
But what does it mean to be “reintegrated” after witnessing, and in some cases perpetrating, the horrors of war?
I was fighting with guns but I don’t like it, and I don’t like seeing dead people
Porter says that beyond providing urgent access to clean water, food and shelter, it is education, livelihood programmes, and psychosocial support that are vital to the reintegration process.
A child protection officer working with Unicef and the freed children told the Guardian that counselling and social support will be tailored to each child, and depends on several factors “including how long they have been with the faction, their age, what their experiences were, and how they reacted as individuals.”
It’s the kind of support that Joseph, aged 11, will desperately need. “I don’t know how long I’ve been with the faction – I don’t know how to count,” he says. “I was fighting with guns but I don’t like it, and I don’t like seeing dead people.”
Other important factors include what Unicef call the “protective environment” – if the children are able to return to their families and if their parents or caregivers are able to give them support. Family tracing units have been established which will, where possible, reunite children with their families.
“A major priority for all the children will be to restore a sense of normalcy in their lives, for them to be able to establish healthy routines – which include knowing they will have food and clean water, as well as being able to play and begin their education.”
It’s the chance to learn, says Porter, which is generating the most excitement amongst the young boys. Joseph is clear about what he wants next:
“I want to go to school and study, to learn to read and write. I want to be a somebody.”
The names of the children have been changed.
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