Huge rise in child abduction, rape in conflict zones: UN

The army detained four children in Jammu and Kashmir on charges of having links with armed groups (Huge rise in child abduction)

Ground Report | New Delhi: Huge rise in child abduction; The United Nations UN has released a report on Monday, in which it has been told that 2,674 children died in various Conflicts going on around the world. UN chief Antonio Guterres's report to the Security Council on violent disputes around the world detailed incidents of children being killed, injured, and kidnapped to recruit rebel groups.

According to the report, there was violence against children in 19,379 during 21 violent disputes going on around the world. Of these, 14,097 were boys and 4,993 were girls. 289 The gender of the children is not known. Most of the incidents were of recruiting children as soldiers. 8,521 children were recruited as soldiers. 2,674 children lost their lives and 5,748 children were injured. Last year the most violence against children occurred in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen.

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Child abduction cases increased by 90 percent while those of sexual assault increased by 70 percent. Attacks on hospitals decreased, but attacks on schools increased. There was a significant increase in attacks on schools, especially in the Sahel and Chad. 85 percent of the children recruited as soldiers were boys, while 98 percent of the children who were victims of sexual violence were girls.

India's position

The United Nations report says that two children have been confirmed to be recruited as soldiers in India last year. Apart from this, there are also reports of three children being used for less than 24 hours by the Indian Army, which is being reviewed.

The army detained four children in Jammu and Kashmir on charges of having links with armed groups. 9 children died due to pellet gun attack or other causes, while 30 were permanently disabled. The Indian Army used seven schools for four months and they were evacuated in the last weeks of the year.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said in his report, "I am concerned about the violence against children in Jammu and Kashmir and urge the government to take necessary steps. Stop using pellets to protect children And it is necessary to ensure that children are not attached to the army in any way." Guterres also expressed concern over the torture of children and the use of schools by the military.

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blacklist

A blacklist has also been created in this report where the names of some parties have been deliberately exposed so that they can take some steps towards saving the children. The list has been disputed for a long time as diplomats point out that both Saudi Arabia and Israel have in recent years exerted considerable pressure to be left out of the list (Huge rise in child abduction).

Israel has never been placed on this list, while the Saudi Arabia-led military organization was removed from the list in 2020. Earlier this organization had been on the list for many years and they were accused of killing children in Yemen.

There was a lot of controversy over the list which was released in 2017 as it was divided into two parts. In one part were the names, who have taken some steps to protect the children. In the second part, the parties who did not take any action were included.

Many major changes were seen in the list which was released on June 21. This time there are only two countries whose names have been kept in the list of not taking steps for the safety of children. Myanmar's military has been blamed for the killing, disability, and sexual assault of children. While Syrian government forces have been blamed for the recruitment, killing, sexual assault of children, and attacks on schools and hospitals.

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