17 August 2017

News Story: UN - Use of child soldiers persistent problem in Philippines

Child Soldier in Asia (File Photo)
By Jose Katigbak, STAR Washington bureau

WASHINGTON – The use of child soldiers by armed groups is a persistent problem in the Philippines, officials here said following revelations by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that these groups used child warriors to behead hostages.

The UN reports armed groups operating in the Philippines, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, New People’s Army, Moro National Liberation Front, the Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, continue to recruit and use children, at times through force, for combat and noncombat roles.

The US State Department in its recent Trafficking in Persons Report 2017 said protracted armed conflict and reports of recruitment and use of child soldiers by armed groups in Mindanao were continuing.

It described child soldiering as a grave human rights violation.

Read the full story at PhilStar