Colombo, Nov 22: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have been slowly demobilising their baby brigades, but teaching child soldiers to become children again is becoming a $40 million problem.
International aid agencies report a rise in the number of child warriors freed by Tamil Tiger rebels since they entered into a Norwegian-brokered truce with government forces in February.

Aid officials say a "working group" consisting of international humanitarian agencies and the authorities were finalising minimum standards and conditions for reintegrating child soldiers into society.

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The question of child soldiers has been a key issue for the United Nations Children's Fund which has been intervening with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to have underage combatants freed from rebel ranks.

"We don't want to get into a debate on why there are child soldiers," said UNICEF representative here, Ted Chaiban. "What we say is that they should not be there (as child soldiers) in the first place."

Poverty and lack of schooling are said to be among key causes that drove hundreds of young boys and girls to take up arms in Sri Lanka's north-east and many are likely to face starvation if they quit the guerrillas.

Chaiban believes education is the key to address the problem of children in a post-conflict situation and help consolidate the peace process.

He said the new school term starting in January will be the first education year in a period of normality in the otherwise embattled northern and eastern regions.

The government forces and Tamil Tiger guerrillas have been observing a truce since February 23, and despite allegations of violations by both sides, it has by and large been holding.

The conflict has claimed more than 60,000 lives in the past three decades. Bureau Report