South Sudan demobilized child soldiers on slow recovery

JUBA 

Lokore Rashu, 15, is silent most of the time. When asked by his concerned father, he usually says there is nothing wrong.

But his father knows better.

Lokore is one of hundreds of child soldiers in SouthSudan's Pibor Administrative Area to have been recently demobilized from the South Sudan Democratic Movement-Cobra faction, a rebel group that signed a peace deal with the government in mid-2014.

"The family is trying to stay near him and make him understand he is loved," Simon, the boy's father, told The Anadolu Agency. "Slowly, he'll come to understand."

Pibor was at the epicenter of fierce fighting between David Yau Yau's rebel group and government forces that led to the displacement of thousands of people.

A major military operation against the rebels in 2012/13 saw numerous families – especially those of the Murle ethnic group – looking to the rebels for security.

As a result, nearly 3,000 children, including young Lokore, ended up joining the rebels' ranks.

"We were all in the bush together. He will have to understand that this wasn't a problem that concerns him alone," said his father, adding that a number of local people had been similarly traumatized.

"Many other children – and we, the elderly – faced the same problems, though for a child it affects your head," noted Simon.

Yau Yau, a former theology student who hails from the Pibor-based Murle tribe, was defeated by the ruling party's candidate in Jonglei State assembly polls in mid- 2010.

Rather than accept defeat, he raised an army of disaffected local youth and launched a rebellion.

Yau Yau accepted a government amnesty in 2011, eventually returning to capital Juba where he was promoted to the rank of general in the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

But in 2012, he returned to the bush, reiterating demands for an independent state in Jonglei in return for ending his rebellion.

After the outbreak of South Sudan's political crisis in late 2013, the government again engaged Yau Yau in fresh peace talks.

Last year, the former rebel leader agreed to abandon his rebellion in exchange for the creation of a "Greater Pibor Administrative Area" carved out of Jonglei State – with Yau Yau as chief administrator.

-Rehabilitation-

Simon believes his son – along with other demobilized child soldiers – is in need of rehabilitation.

"What we need in Pibor right now is education for our children," he told AA. "They should be sent to school so that they grow into responsible citizens."

According to the UN children's fund (UNICEF), 550 child soldiers have so far been demobilized in the Gumuruk and Pibor areas.

The next phase of demobilization will target the Lukuangole, Pochalla and Boma areas.

Following the release of a second batch of 300 former child soldiers in mid-February, UNICEF Country Representative Jonathan Veitch voiced concern over some of the children's behavior.

"We are witnessing the negative consequences that being in an armed group has had on the boys; some are withdrawn, while others exhibit violent and aggressive behavior," Veitch said in a statement.

"Instead of playing, they march up and down [like soldiers]," he noted.

The UN official added: "To avoid the risk of re-recruitment and ensure that each child can fulfill their potential, they need a protective environment where they not only receive food and water, but also counseling, life skills and educational opportunities."

Joseph Lilimoy Agozia, deputy chief administrator for Greater Pibor, said they were witnessing varying levels of trauma in the decommissioned child soldiers.

"The area has been at war and all communities affected. Children are definitely violent, but not to a level of nightmares," he told AA.

"Children were part of the Cobra Faction, but they never joined the frontline," Agozia asserted.

"Everyone knows how the war was – a kind of extermination, killing everybody in your way. And the children, seeking protection, joined us," he said.

"They may have seen things children should not see, but this could be said of all the children of Pibor – not only those who were in the army," Agozia contended.

The deputy administrator said plans were underway for the children, but added that parents, too, should assist in the rehabilitation process.

"The families have responsibilities, as we, as government, have responsibilities," he told AA.

"Our responsibility now is to change the culture of violence among the children to a culture of peace," said Agozia.

"We have reconciliation and counseling programs for them and will later look at sending them to school," he added.

He said the program was currently awaiting government funding, going on to lament the small number of schools in the new administration area.

"Greater Pibor has few schools. Currently, children in school don't exceed 500, yet we have an estimated 7,000 children who should be in school," said Agozia.

UNICEF spokesperson Claire Mckeever, for her part, said demobilized child soldiers were being monitored by the UN agency.

"Many of them have been very successful coming home, probably because they stayed close to their families and communities – even when they were in the [rebel] group," she told AA.

"We have a permanent base in Pibor and are engaged with these children," Mckeever said.

She revealed that some of the children frequented a psychosocial rehabilitation center set up by UNICEF in Pibor.

"They are under UNICEF's care. A majority of those who have come home come back to the center every day," said Mckeever.

"Some receive psychosocial support at the center, where we have specialists working with them very closely every day to help them recover," she explained.

"There is another plan to rehabilitate them, even when they have gone home. So we will be tracing their families," added Mckeever.

The UNICEF spokesperson admitted, however, that it would take some time for the children to learn to adjust to civilian life.

"A key aspect of successful reintegration is to also provide schooling; vocational skills and training; and livelihood opportunities to other children in these communities – not just those released from the armed group," she said.

"For every child released, UNICEF will support another child in the community with the same opportunities," Mckeever asserted.