The Hindu : International : "LTTE recruiting tsunami-affected children"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 16, 2005

International

International

"LTTE recruiting tsunami-affected children"

NEW YORK, JAN. 15. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka are recruiting children affected by the tsunami for use as soldiers, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

It said the Tamil Tigers, who were already recruiting large numbers of child soldiers, now may seek to replace forces lost in the tsunami with child recruits. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported on Thursday three cases of children recruited from camps for tsunami survivors in Batticaloa and Ampara.

Human Rights Watch has received additional information on LTTE recruitment of children in Trincomalee and Jaffna. "The Tamil Tigers are preying on the most vulnerable by taking advantage of children who have been orphaned or displaced by the tsunami," said Jo Becker, children's rights advocacy director of Human Rights Watch. "Every effort must be made to stop this unconscionable recruiting from families who have already suffered so much."

At a relief camp in Trincomalee, a 16-year old boy, who had been recruited prior to the tsunami and later escaped, told credible sources that he witnessed the LTTE recruit three girls from the camp. In Jaffna, independent human rights monitors documented LTTE recruitment of two 13-year old boys on January 3.

Human Rights Watch has found that the LTTE often used threats, intimidation and even abduction to bring children into its ranks.

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