Rome (Fides Service) - The scourge of child soldiers continues to be a sad reality in certain countries of Latin America where many minors also suffer abuse including sexual abuse and violence in the streets and at home.
Although since the 1980s the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF has sought to free and help minors enlisted by armies or guerrilla groups, 300,000 children are still involved in more than 30 wars in various parts of the world and according to Save the Children NGO after Myanmar, Liberia and Democratic Congo, Colombia has the 4th highest number of child soldiers in the world. In Colombia 14,000 children are exploited as soldiers and about 2 million are internally displaced because of civil conflict. Save the Children also fears that in Peru the Sendero Luminoso movement has started recruiting children and adolescents again. The problem exists not only in Colombia and Peru, but also unfortunately in Bolivia, Brazil, Haiti and Paraguay.
UNICEF gives alarming figures: in the world in recent decades 2 million children were killed in armed conflict, 6 million were mutilated and 20 million were forced to leave their homes.
Another serious problem affecting minors in Latin America is violence of which they can be victims or authors. (AP) (3/5/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:22 Parole:260)