UN worried by rise in mass abductions of children
Mass abductions of children by groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State are on the rise, with the practice now becoming a tactic of war, a UN envoy warned Wednesday.
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United Nations: Mass abductions of children by groups like Boko Haram and the Islamic State are on the rise, with the practice now becoming a tactic of war, a UN envoy warned Wednesday.
"Mass abductions of women and children are becoming a tactic of war used systematically to terrorize, suppress and humiliate entire communities," Zerrougui told the 15-member council.
The envoy spoke as reports surfaced of a mass kidnapping of hundreds of children from the Nigerian town of Damasak by retreating Boko Haram fighters last week.
The Nigerian government has denied the reports, which came almost a year after the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok that sparked a worldwide campaign for their release.
UN rights investigators this month accused Islamic State fighters of abducting and selling women and girls from Iraq`s Yazidi minority as sex slaves.
French Ambassador Francois Delattre, who chairs the Security Council this month, said abductions of children should trigger sanctions by placing perpetrators on a UN black list of violators of children`s rights.
Speaking to the council, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the Islamic State group and Boko Haram "often target girls and boys" and that UN agencies are confronting "more and more cases of child abductions."
The UN children`s agency UNICEF has described 2014 as a devastating year for children with up to 15 million swept up in wars in the Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Ukraine.
A UN campaign to end the recruitment of child soldiers by 2016 has yielded results in ensuring that government forces are child-free. Chad recently joined that group, Ban said.
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