New Delhi: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has recommended to the Security Council to take "targeted measures" to prevent separatist Tamil Tigers rebels and a breakaway group Karuna faction from abducting children to fight as soldiers in the bloody conflict on the Island.
The 20-page report covers the period from November 1, 2005 to October 31, 2006, and notes that over these 12 months, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) received reports of hundreds of children being recruited by the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The report also says about the Sri Lankan army’s involvement in recruitment of children by the Karuna faction.
"Despite previous commitments by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, that group continues to use and recruit children. In addition, a particularly disconcerting development during the reporting period was the increase in
abductions and recruitment of children in the east by the Karuna faction, a breakaway group of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam," it states.
Outlining his recommendations, the Secretary-General reiterates his call for an immediate end to the conflict that has already caused the deaths of more than 65,000 people in over 20 years.
Ki-Moon also emphasised on any peace settlement to include provisions that tonsure the protection of children.
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