Number of children in Haiti recruited by armed groups soars by 70 per cent in one year – UNICEF

PORT AU PRINCE/NEW YORK, 25 November 2024 – The number of children recruited by armed groups in Haiti increased by 70 per cent in the last year, according to the latest UNICEF estimates.

The unprecedented spike, registered between the second quarters of 2023 and 2024, points to a worsening protection crisis for children in the violence-plagued Caribbean Island. At present, up to half of all members in armed groups are children.

“Children in Haiti are trapped in a vicious cycle—recruited into the very armed groups that are fueling their desperation, and the numbers are growing,” said UNICEF Executive Director and Inter Agency Standing Committee Principal Advocate for Haiti, Catherine Russell. “This unacceptable trend must be reversed by ensuring children’s safety and welfare are prioritized by all parties.”

The rise in child recruitment by armed groups has been fueled by escalating violence, pervasive poverty, lack of education, and near collapse of critical infrastructure and social services in Haiti. Children are often coerced into joining to support their families, or under threats to their safety. Many are recruited after being separated from their caretakers, stripped of protection and survival options.

Meanwhile, children living in the increasingly diminishing number of areas outside the control of armed groups are often viewed with suspicion, and risk being branded as spies or even killed by vigilante movements. When they defect or refuse to join the violence, their lives and safety are immediately at risk.

“Children in many parts of Haiti are subjected to atrocities no child should ever have to experience, leaving them with psychological and emotional scars that might haunt them for a lifetime,” added Russell. “Chaos and horror have become part of daily life.”

In the capital Port-au- Prince, 1.2 million children live under the threat of armed violence. An estimated 25 per cent of all 703,000 internally displaced persons in the country – 365,000 children – are currently in the city living under very dire conditions and exposed to multiple threats.

Sexual assault and rape have become rampant in Haiti. According to the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the number of children exposed to sexual violence skyrocketed tenfold this year alone.

In 2024, UNICEF has reached over 25,000 people with services and support related to sexual and gender-based violence, including multi-sectoral case management, psychosocial support, and community sensitization.

In response to the protection crisis facing children recruited by armed groups or at risk of recruitment in Haiti, UNICEF has trained security forces and civil society organizations on child protection measures to safeguard their rights.

In addition, UNICEF has provided interim care for children previously associated with armed groups, offering psychosocial support, food, and family tracing and reunification services.

UNICEF is urging all parties in Haiti, including security forces and the government, to:

• Prioritizethe safety and protection of all children and ensure they are treated as children first and foremost, taking every measure to avoid further killing and injuring of children, including those recruited.
• Support the immediate release of children recruited by armed groups and their immediate handover to civilian child protection actors for their recovery and reintegration.
• Ensure the rights and protection of all children in Haiti are at the core of any present and future agendas. Children must be protected from recruitment, sexual violence, and other forms of violence, and have safe access to basic services, including education, health, nutrition, and child protection.

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Notes for Editors: Recruitment and use of children by armed groups, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse, constitute grave violations of their rights. Enlisting children of any age into armed groups is a breach of international law. All children encountered during security operations should be handed over to state led child protection actors, in line with the Child Handover Protocol for the release and reintegration of children associated with armed groups that was validated by the state, UN agencies and civil society organizations last year. This is to ensure that children actually or allegedly associated with armed groups, including those accused of having committed crimes, are primarily regarded as victims of violations of international law or abuses, rather than as perpetrators of such offenses, consistent with relevant international law.

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This article first appeared in UNICEF