The level of renewed violence in South Sudan culminating in abducted children being press-ganged into the ranks of armed militias is disquieting, a statement from Washington warns.Each year, the United States dedicates the month of January to raising awareness about human trafficking and other forms of violence resulting from the tendency.
The U.S government reaffirms the importance of its commitment throughout the year to ending human trafficking, which it says constitutes one of the worst forms of human rights violations.
”Human traffickers often take advantage of instability caused by conflict to exploit others. In South Sudan, we are gravely concerned about reports of women and children being abducted, including within the context of sub-national violence” its statement points out.
”We are equally concerned by continued reports of the recruitment and use of child soldiers. We renew our call for South Sudan’s leaders to act with urgency to end sub-national violence and to hold accountable those responsible for abductions and for all other forms of human rights violations, including child soldier recruitment” it adds.
The recruitment of child soldiers in South Sudan dates back to the 22-year civil war when the world’s newest country was still under the yoke of Sudan from which it seceded in July 2011.
This practice continued in South Sudan after independence as rebel movements and other militias continue to enlist what humanitarian organisations say are tens of thousands of children to take part in combat operations.
Most of those forced into conflicts are gun-totting boys although a substantial number of them are girls used as cooks, cleaners and to run errands.
According to UNICEF, 28 percent of the children freed from such activities in Western Equatoria region were under-15s.
Despite a peace agreement in 2020 which ended more than seven years of conflict following reports of an abortive coup in December 2013, armed militias still hold sway in some regions of South Sudan especially where the presence of regular army personnel is thin or nonexistent.
