AMISOM to investigate child soldiers reports

KAMPALA 

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has vowed to investigate reports that it has been using "child soldiers" in the troubled Horn of Africa country.

"AMISOM is concerned to learn that a handful of alleged cases have been identified of minors being associated with AMISOM as cooks and to man checkpoints," Eloi Yao, AMISOM's senior public information officer, said in a written statement to Anadolu Agency.

"Urgent investigations as to the detail and veracity of these reports will be immediately investigated," he said.

In a report released this week, the U.N. documented the recruitment and use of 1293 children in Somalia by various parties to the conflict.

The report noted with concern 14 cases of children recruited by AMISOM in various capacities, including to "man checkpoints and as cooks."

It said the U.N. had been "regularly engaging with AMISOM leadership with a view to addressing these cases and enhancing the mainstreaming of child protection."

"AMISOM will not tolerate the recruitment of 'child soldiers' and completely abhors any such practice," Yao told AA.

"The AU Mission in Somalia and all its contingents are absolutely committed to upholding the highest possible standards," he said.

AMISOM, tasked with supporting the Somali government, currently has 22,126 personnel deployed in the country, including both military and police, according to its website.

Its military component is comprised of 5432 troops from Burundi; 1000 from Djibouti; 3664 from Kenya; 850 from Sierra Leone; 4395 from Ethiopia; and 6223 from Uganda.

In March, the U.N. children's fund (UNICEF) launched a global campaign entitled "Children Not Soldiers," which aims to end the recruitment and use of children in conflict areas by 2016.

Earlier this year, the campaign and its objectives were endorsed in a U.N. Security Council resolution on children and armed conflict (Number 2143).

By Halima Athumani

www.aa.com.tr/en