Colombo, Jan 26: The UN children's agency, Unicef, today rejected Sri Lankan rebels' denials that they were recruiting child soldiers and said they had proof of children as young as 10-years-old being enlisted. Unicef said that they had documented cases of 1,301 children below the age of 18 years in the ranks of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the end of 2003.
"We have copies of birth certificates of 643 children who have been recruited by the LTTE," Unicef spokeswoman Surangani Abeyesekera said. "In the case of all others, we have some form of proof of age."
Last week, Unicef asked the LTTE to stop recruiting children and free all under-aged combatants immediately in war-affected areas of Sri Lanka's northeast.

Unicef in its annual report for 2003 released last week said the rebels recruited 709 underage fighters during the year to bring the number held by them to 1,301 at the end of December. The rise in child combatants came even after the LTTE entered into a Norwegian-brokered truce with the government in February 2002 and despite pledges not to enlist youngsters below the age of 18.

However, the LTTE in a statement posted on its peace secretariat website denied the accusation. "At a time when there is a two-year-old ceasefire in force, the allegation that the ltte is continuing intake of children is a malicious propaganda," the Tigers said.
It said "some interested parties" were engaged in a "mischievous campaign to vilify the LTTE."

Bureau Report