Armed groups in South Sudan release more than 100 child soldiers

Armed groups in South Sudan released 145 child soldiers on Wednesday, according to UNICEF, but ongoing recruitment of child soldiers continues across the country.

The United Nations children’s agency said the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), led by former Vice President Riek Machar, and the Cobra Faction, which had signed a peace deal with the government in 2014, released the children.

“During their release, the children were formally disarmed and provided with civilian clothes,” UNICEF said in a statement. “Medical screenings were carried out and the children were registered for a reintegration program.”

The agency, which worked with South Sudan’s disarmament and reintegration commission to secure the children’s release, said the children will continue to receive counseling and psychosocial support in the coming months as efforts continue to locate their families.

Clashes between the troops of warring South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and Machar triggered a civil war in 2013. Since the start of the war, armed groups have recruited some 16,000 child soldiers, with 800 recruits this year alone. The latest release is the highest in several months after armed groups released 1,775 children in 2015. South Sudan signed a peace deal last year, but due to several violations the deal remains unimplemented. Fighting erupted again in July and Machar fled the country after Kiir replaced him as the country’s vice president. Machar has called on his SPLA forces to stage an armed resistance against Kiir’s administration.

With the resurging violence, UNICEF said it continues to receive reports of armed groups recruiting children in Unity and Jonglei state, among others. Human Rights Watch said armed groups mostly recruit children by either physically forcing them in trucks heading for battle, or seizing them from their homes at gunpoint. The rights group said the majority of the recruits are treated the same as adult soldiers.

UNICEF called on armed groups to comply with international law and release the remaining children serving under their forces.

“Children in South Sudan need safety, protection, and opportunities,” Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s representative in South Sudan, said in a statement. “Our priority is to get them into school and to provide services to communities so the children are able to see a more promising future.”