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| [00:08.12]Passage 65 Child Soldiers [00:13.56]Representatives of governments and organizations from about twenty countries [00:21.50]met in Kathmandu Nepal recently [00:26.02]for a four-day conference on child soldiers. [00:30.98]The conference was organized by a group of international human rights [00:37.30]organizations called the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. [00:44.85]At the end of their conference,the delegates called [00:49.58]for a worldwide ban on child soldiers. [00:54.73]Rory Mungoven was the chief planner of the meeting in Nepal. [01:00.37]Mister mungoven says children are fighting [01:04.89]in almost every current conflict in Asia. [01:10.24]He says Asia is second only to Africa [01:14.76]in its widespread use of child soldiers. [01:19.78]A recent Coalition report says children are being used [01:25.52]as soldiers in Afghanistan,Burma,Cambodia,SriLanka and other countries [01:33.96]Mister Mungoven says many rebel groups use children as fighters [01:40.88]Such groups include Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and separatists [01:47.81]in the Philippines and Kashmir. [01:51.75]However,children do not only fight for rebel groups. [01:57.39]The report says child soldiers can be found in the Burmese [02:03.53]government's armed forces,for example. [02:07.48]And,several countries permit children in their late teenage years [02:13.80]to join the armed forces. [02:17.04]The Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers [02:23.28]says more than 300,000 children [02:27.72]are fighting in conflicts in more than thirty countries around the world. [02:34.04]Human Rights Watch is a member of the Coalition [02:39.90]to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. [02:43.94]The human rights group says the children who become soldiers are often poor [02:51.39]separated from their families,or living in a battle area. [02:57.42]They usually do not have much education or chance to get an education [03:04.76]Mister Mungoven says people seeking child soldiers [03:10.41]will put pressure on teachers,familie and community leaders. [03:16.15]The children also are promised food or security. [03:22.29]Other children are kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers [03:29.11]Human Rights Watch says children in armed groups may become cooks [03:36.16]guards or spies.However,the group says children may also be forced [03:43.50]into situations that are more dangerous. [03:47.55]Sometimes children are placed into battle immediately. [03:53.69]They also may be used to explore minefields ahead of older troops. [04:01.63]And sometimes they are ordered to carry out military operations [04:07.77]that are sure to lead to their deaths. |
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