A sliver of good news out of war-torn South Sudan: around 3,000 child soldiers are being handed over to UNICEF by a rebel group that has disbanded its fight against the government. UNICEF now begins the arduous task of tracking down family members of these children, some of whom have been fighting for four years. “These children have been forced to do and see things no child should ever experience,” UNICEF South Sudan Representative Jonathan Veitch said in a statement. Here, several former child soldiers explain the circumstances that led to their conscription. Most names have been changed to protect their privacy.
Doune Porter/UNICEF South Sudan
“I’m nine years old. I have spent one year with the [rebel Cobra] Faction. I have not done any fighting with the enemy but I practiced shooting trees. When there were serious missions they wouldn’t let me join because I’m too young. They said only big people go on serious missions.”
Mariantonietta Peru/UNICEF South Sudan
“Our enemies killed my sister, my uncle and other family members. So I joined the Cobra Faction and I killed one of the enemy. I was able to kill because I was able to shoot a gun. But life in Cobra is not good—we have to walk so much, sometimes three or four days, carrying heavy equipment. I really want to go to school now. I have never been to school, and after I finish school I want to help the people in my community—to help them get food. If I had children I would never let them be soldiers.”
Doune Porter/UNICEF South Sudan
“I don’t want to be a soldier, I will end up with nothing by being a soldier and I know one day I’ll get killed if I continue being a soldier. I want first to go to school then later I want to study medicine”
Mariantonietta Peru/UNICEF South Sudan
“I don’t know how long I’ve been with the Faction—I don’t know how to count. But it’s been three dry seasons and three wet seasons. Life in the Faction is very difficult, but we have no choice. I was fighting with guns but I don’t like it and I don’t like seeing dead people. I want to go to school and study, to learn to read and write. I want to be a somebody.”
Doune Porter/UNICEF South Sudan
“I joined the Cobra Faction three years ago. There was nothing here for us in Pibor—no roads or hospitals or schools. Sometimes there was no food. But life in the Faction is not good. There is no rest. The commanders are always ordering us to go out on missions. We are moving all the time. Even when we children get tired, there is no rest. Now I want to go to school. I have never been to school.”
Doune Porter/UNICEF South Sudan
“I do the work of a soldier. I don’t know how long exactly I have been a soldier. I think it’s about two years.”
Mariantonietta Peru/UNICEF South Sudan
