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| Southeast Asia |
| Child soldiers among NPA surrenderees |
| 2014-03-31 |
| Thirteen of the 72 New People's Army (NPA) militants who surrendered to the Philippine military in Cagayan de Oro City were children, while a number of them were minors when they joined the insurgency, the military said. Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, who flew in for the surrender ceremony Friday, said the recruitment of child warriors is a violation of the rules of war, and is clearly prohibited under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. According to the military, most of those who surrendered were regular NPA members while the others belonged to the so-called Militia ng Bayan operating in the hinterlands of Caraga and Northern Mindanao regions. Bautista said, "Thirteen of those who surrendered were minors and most of them were from the indigenous communities in the hinterlands of Bukidnon, Agusan and Surigao in the Caraga region." Bautista said the NPA should stop using children as warriors. He said, "These are just 13 child warriors who, after years of being with the NPA, decided to lay down their arms and try to live a normal life. There could be more (child warriors) out there in the mountains." The returnees received compensation for the guns they surrendered. In addition to financial assistance, the militant returnees will also be placed in the Social Integration and Livelihood Program, under which they will be given farms to tend. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 Kiddie Soldiers - thats a'mighty "Islamic" of these Commies. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2014-03-31 21:56 |