AFRICA/SOMALIA - Increased alarm for child soldiers and violence suffered by young girls

Mogadishu (Agenzia Fides) – Armed groups in Somalia have continued recruiting children to fight and engage in piracy, and girls have found themselves facing increasing risk of sexual violence. According to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict, in some parts of the country, Al-Shabab leaders are asking parents to give them a child. Violence is on the rise, with fast, quick marriages, killing and maiming. There are still grave dangers for those living in Mogadishu, Puntland, and Somaliland. Children are held alongside adults as pirates in Bosasso Central Prison. The big pirates do not go out, they have become businessmen; it is the young children (15-17-year-olds) who are sent out. They exploit the fact that children have a less developed concept of death and tend to be fearless fighters. The government will work with the TFG and allies towards a UN action plan for the release and verification of the release of child soldiers. Those who are already released live in the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) camp in Mogadishu. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 5/11/2010)