CHILD VICTIMS OF WAR

This is a war that continues to claim thousands of lives every month. It is a war about territory, ethnicity and resources, with its roots in, but not limited to, the genocide in Rwanda in 1995. It is a war that frequently descends to inhuman levels, the likes of which are uneasy reminders of the atrocities seen in Rwanda, and also in Bosnia in the early 1990s.

From the Guardian website:

“Armed militia groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kidnapped hundreds of rival tribe members, tortured, mutilated, raped and decapitated their victims, and even boiled alive and ate two girls in front of their mother.”

This information was taken from a UN report in March 2005. Sadly, it didn't make it out of the internet into the Guardian proper – so the oxygen of publicity for these mind-boggling crimes was quickly exhausted. This is a common problem for those of us trying desperately to reveal the depth of horrors happening to people, and especially children in places like DRC. For example: how many people do you know who actually know where DRC is? Who know anything about the scale of conflict? Nevertheless, the situation is so appalling that the UN regard it as the worst emergency to unfold in Africa in recent decades. When you consider the horrific reports coming out of Darfur last Christmas, for DRC to be worse is almost unthinkable.

For children in DRC it gets worse. Far worse. Boys as young as eight are recruited to fight with promises of a new, attractive lifestyle that include clothing, three square meals a day, a routine and, far more sinisterly, access to guns, girls and drugs. Similarly, girls are recruited to “service” the older soldiers (we'll leave that to your imagination), join the front line, or act as porters or cooks.

But with your help War Child can offer hope of a better life. Take the case of Fiston. On the 10 August 2004, Fiston wakes up in barracks in Northern Congo. He has fought on the frontline many times and has committed appalling, unimaginable acts of violence, often against women and children. Brainwashed and completely desensitised to violence, Fiston was brutally recruited as a member of a rebel militia in 1999. He is 15 years old.

On this August morning he boards a transport plane and is set to fly East, to the front line, to face more horror. But something happens. Aid workers from War Child's partner organisation board the plane and in the face of threats from armed rebel generals and soldiers they take all the children off the plane. Fiston's life is about to change dramatically.

He and his fellow child soldiers are immediately enrolled into War Child's demobilisation and reintegration program. He is given food, shelter and counselling. Over the following months the long process of tracing his family and working with both Fiston and the village from which he came gradually paved the way for his return home. He now has a job and security. His life is still difficult and he has constant nightmares. But he also has hope.

In late 2001, the US accused Osama bin Laden of masterminding the bombing of their embassies in Africa in 1998 and the attacks on the US on 11th September 2001. After the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden, the US initiated aerial attacks, paving the way for opposition groups to drive them from power.

Over twenty years of fighting has left more than a million children orphaned, about two million have been forced to flee their home and some thirty five thousand have become victims of landmines.

Many children have found themselves increasingly involved in criminal activity, and many now find themselves interned in adult prisons -- a direct contravention of the Convention on Child Rights. These are the children War Child is presently working with.

CHILDREN IN DETENTION

THE PROBLEM

Rejected by parents and family members, many Afghan children try to survive on the streets by the means of petty crimes. Because of the chaos of the judicial system and a poor understanding of juvenile justice, these children are put into adult prisons; an unsuitable place for any child. Upon release, a strong social stigma results in many of these children being rejected by their families, leaving them with no carer. As a result children often re-offend and pass through the detention centre on a regular basis.

THIS IS WHAT WAR CHILD IS DOING ABOUT IT

War Child actively negotiates the release of these children and in 2005 succeeded in separating children held in detention with adults and housing them in a specific children’s detention centre. The centre offers access to educational material, art and sports equipment and they can take English lessons. War Child representatives visit the detention centre on a weekly basis and seek to reunite and reintegrate as many children as possible with their families.

Last year 500 children benefited from the project, including 20 children who are taken on a regular basis to visit their mothers in prison. Many of the boys have gone on to better things, some work in decent jobs; a few of the better off have continued their education. A recent War Child report revealed that many of the children have ambitious yet practical goals for the future. In response to children re-offending, War Child plans to establish a family liaison project and a rehab training centre.

You can help ensure the right for children affected by conflict to be who they want to be by joining War Child or making a donation.

A major effect of the war was the creation of chaos, resulting in the mass movement of people from one part of the country to the other, then to neighboring countries and other parts of the world.

Forced migration and displacements, family incapacity and separation, lack of appropriate information, hazardous and oppressive work (forced child labor), Institutional violation and neglect became prevalent in all parts of the country.

Life was disrupted through brutal killings, accompanied by a loss of belongings through arson and looting. In the process, women and girls were raped, while children and youth were exposed to horrific scenes, molestation, drugs, banditry, abduction and forced recruitment into the armed forces

[Picture: A 14-year-old girl holds her son, she had been abducted by the insurgency as a wife then bearing a child from one of the soldiers.]

The emotional, physical, health and psychological well being of most children and families were affected as a result of the conflict. They became victims of injuries from gunshots and machetes, abductions, indoctrination, rape, torture and sex abuse.

The resource base of the country was completely crippled and put the national economy in shambles resulting in a total collapse of the productive sectors and high unemployment. This scenario engendered a state of inertia in which everyone was left groping for survival. A daily hand-to-mouth existence became a reality for thousands of Sierra Leoneans, especially the rural poor whose very existence was constantly threatened.

The most vulnerable groups, women children and youth were been hardest hit. Women whose significant contributions to household food production and incomes experienced enough traumas that rendered them helpless and poor. The destruction of health infrastructure, pervading insecurity for local health staff and the resultant halt to community level health services had further impact on the well-being of new born children and their mothers.

Food security, a problem rural farmers have been grappling with a long time before the war, became more acute. Inadequate supplies of seeds, poor management of produce, large numbers of people living in a household, and poor yields were the result of adverse environmental factors which affected both household food supply and seed stocks. The agricultural sector was at an all time low the worst in the history of Sierra Leone. Farmers who managed to cultivate some small amount of produce despite all the danger that surrounded them lost their produce through systematic looting by fighting forces.

Ahmed Al-Khaffaji, 6, refused to leave his house for nearly a year after shrapnel from a mortar shell ripped through his left arm, rendering it useless. Hussain Haider was only 5 when he stopped speaking after watching his father slowly bleed to death on the living room floor of the family's Sadr City home.

Iraqi psychiatrists worry about the long-term consequences of a generation that has been constantly exposed to explosions, gunfights, kidnappings and sectarian murders. "Some of these children are time bombs," said Said al-Hashimi, a psychiatrist who teaches at Mustansiriya Medical School.

Mental health professionals such as al-Hashimi say that there is a chronic shortage of trained psychiatrists and that schools are the front line for treating traumatized children. Ahmed's skin was badly scarred, and he suffered burns on both legs when a mortar round slammed into his family's south Baghdad home on Jan. 1, 2006.

His mother, Safia Hussain Ali, said that for nearly a year afterward, her son feared leaving the house and often refused to eat. Today, Ahmed attends school, but his behavior occasionally regresses, and he retreats from reality. "Sometimes he refuses to eat and just wants to watch TV or play video games," Ali said.

Haider al-Malaki, 40, a psychiatrist at the government-run Ibn Rushd Hospital, said he has treated children as young as 6 with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said he has also seen children with sleeping and eating disorders that can be traced to the violence.

"They have all experienced some kind of psychological trauma, whether they witnessed a murder or survived a kidnapping attempt," al-Malaki said. "When they witness violence, they're more likely to display aggressive and reckless behavior" later.

MORE VIOLENCE

Al-Hashimi said he is concerned Iraqi children could become the next generation of fighters and fuel violence for years to come. Because of what they are living through as youngsters, "they may think it's better to martyr themselves for religion or country," he said.

Al-Hashimi set up a workshop this year to help teachers and school officials deal with students suffering from war-related trauma. He urges educators to get kids to release their emotions through activities such as academic competitions and soccer games. "Schools in hot areas are still functioning," he said, referring to volatile Baghdad neighborhoods. "Unfortunately, many people don't know how to handle the children in this situation."

Attacks on or near schools have forced Iraqi teachers and other school staff to try to protect their students. "Children are very perceptive of teachers' moods and actions," said Hadoon Waleed, a psychology professor at Baghdad University. "It's very important that teachers are trained to handle their students during stressful situations."

Fawad Al-Kaisi, 59, headmaster at the Al-Hurriyah primary school in south Baghdad, said his staff has learned through experience. "When explosions go off in the area, the students become very nervous," Al-Kaisi said. "We try our best to create a positive environment to make them feel safe."

Like others among Iraq's professional elite, psychiatrists are scarce, in part because they have been targets of kidnappers and assassins. Al-Malaki, the psychiatrist at Ibn Rushd, survived two bullet wounds in his right arm from an assassination attempt in his clinic last year. He is among the few psychiatrists who have remained in Iraq and continued to work. The Iraqi Society of Psychiatrists estimates at least 140 of the country's 200 psychiatrists were killed or have fled the country in the past four years.

LITTLE HELP AVAILABLE

A shortage of psychiatric facilities further limits the availability of mental health care. Ibn Rushd is the only government-funded psychiatric hospital in Baghdad, a city of 6 million people.

For Hussain Haider, now 7, and other children, the need is urgent. He stopped speaking for months after his father was killed in a crossfire between fighters of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia group, and U.S. forces April 6, 2004. His mother, Thuraya Jabbar, said his grades have fallen, and he is awakened frequently by nightmares.