End the recruitmenr of young child soldiers to the British Army.
Budgie | 10.01.2011 15:22
The current Armed Forces Bill provides the ideal opportunity for Parliament to amend the provisions of the 2006 Act in order to end the recruitment of individuals below the age of 18. This would bring the UK into line with international best practice and the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, the Defence Committee and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
We should never forget how life-shattering these injuries are. And in addition to the horrifying physical effects on these young people, there will also be deep psychological trauma.
In the UK 16 year olds can join the Army, although they are not allowed to go on combat operations until they are 18 years old.
This has become an issue since the 2nd reading of the Armed Forces Bill, which comes around every 5 years, is about to take place.
Therefore it is important that a call for an end of recruitment at this young age and the use of child soldiers.
At 16 a legal commitment is signed, to the armed forces, to serve for 6 years – up until the age of 22.
The right to leave expires after 6 months, usually while the recruits are still on basic training. After this they have no right to leave unless granted a discretionary right to leave by their commanding officer, although many don’t get this granted to them.
These young people are still legally a child and therefore it is argued that they cannot be reasonably expected to make such a long lasting sacrifice and commitment.
The UK is exceptional in recruiting 16 year olds in the European Community. Infact fewer than 20 other countries in the world do this; amongst those that do are places like North Korea, Iran or Zimbabwe.
It is argued tat people with ‘limited’ life chances are those who are targeted and recruited at this young age. Although parental consent is required for those under the age of 18, evidence shows that this is no safe guard; e.g. often the parent signing the forms has never met anyone from the armed forces to talk matters through with.
While the young person is led to believe that they will receive career training, e.g. electrician, this is often not the case and they find themselves in a war zone at 18 with 4 years to serve before the chance to get out.
Since the start of the war in Afghanistan, 24 per cent of British fatalities have been aged 21 or younger. Many of them will have been young men who enlisted as teenagers.
There are additional ongoing concerns regarding the mental health of young soldiers. Data published in March 2010 highlighted that male army recruits aged under 20 years old had a suicide rate 50 per cent higher than equivalent males in the general population.
DASA Suicide and Open Verdict Deaths in the UK Regular Armed Forces 1984-2009, 31 March 2010.
We should never forget how life-shattering these injuries are. And in addition to the horrifying physical effects on these young people, there will also be deep psychological trauma.
In the UK 16 year olds can join the Army, although they are not allowed to go on combat operations until they are 18 years old.
This has become an issue since the 2nd reading of the Armed Forces Bill, which comes around every 5 years, is about to take place.
Therefore it is important that a call for an end of recruitment at this young age and the use of child soldiers.
At 16 a legal commitment is signed, to the armed forces, to serve for 6 years – up until the age of 22.
The right to leave expires after 6 months, usually while the recruits are still on basic training. After this they have no right to leave unless granted a discretionary right to leave by their commanding officer, although many don’t get this granted to them.
These young people are still legally a child and therefore it is argued that they cannot be reasonably expected to make such a long lasting sacrifice and commitment.
The UK is exceptional in recruiting 16 year olds in the European Community. Infact fewer than 20 other countries in the world do this; amongst those that do are places like North Korea, Iran or Zimbabwe.
It is argued tat people with ‘limited’ life chances are those who are targeted and recruited at this young age. Although parental consent is required for those under the age of 18, evidence shows that this is no safe guard; e.g. often the parent signing the forms has never met anyone from the armed forces to talk matters through with.
While the young person is led to believe that they will receive career training, e.g. electrician, this is often not the case and they find themselves in a war zone at 18 with 4 years to serve before the chance to get out.
Since the start of the war in Afghanistan, 24 per cent of British fatalities have been aged 21 or younger. Many of them will have been young men who enlisted as teenagers.
There are additional ongoing concerns regarding the mental health of young soldiers. Data published in March 2010 highlighted that male army recruits aged under 20 years old had a suicide rate 50 per cent higher than equivalent males in the general population.
DASA Suicide and Open Verdict Deaths in the UK Regular Armed Forces 1984-2009, 31 March 2010.
Budgie
Original article on IMC Bristol:
http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/702782
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