Geneva - The ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, which has caused the displacement of over 250,000 people, has
put children at particular risk of recruitment into armed groups, the
UN's Children Fund said Wednesday.
UNICEF called on 'all armed groups to end the recruitment and use
of children,' Pierrette Vu Thi, the agency's chief in the DR Congo,
said in a statement. They must 'immediately release the children
within their ranks.'
The children are also prone to sexual exploitation and forced
labour, particularly when they are separated from their families and
unable to attend school, the agency said, warning that some former
child soldiers were being re-recruited by rebels.
In the past four years, some 10,000 children have been released
and reintegrated into their communities.
Since September, the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has
abducted some 200 children in the Dungu district, UNICEF said, adding
that it was working with 31 of these youngsters who managed to
escape.
The Catholic aid group Caritas accused the LRA this week
of massacring at least 400 people over Christmas.
The group's attacks have ramped up since the Congolese, Ugandan
and southern Sudanese armies mid-December began ground and aerial
attacks on LRA bases in the country.
Women and girls, even those in displaced persons camps, still
faced the risk of abuse and sexual violence.
Two girls who participated in a UNICEF programme were attacked by
soldiers in the Kibati refugee camp, who then tried to rape them. One
was shot dead and the other fled.
Vu Thi said there needed to be 'a zero tolerance position toward
sexual exploitation and abuse' by the government, armed groups and
community leaders.
Fighting during the last decade in the DR Congo is estimated to
have killed over 5 million people and left over a million people
internally displaced or refugees in neighboring countries.
The latest outbreak of violence began over the summer, when Tutsi
rebels loyal to General Laurent Nkunda began fighting with government
forces in the Kivu region.
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