Sri Lanka is experiencing some trouble due to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), of the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers are known as one of the most disciplined, organized, and ruthless rebel forces in the world. Their leader is rarely seen and is named Velupillai Prabhakaran. The Tiger controlled area starts out below the Jaffna Peninsula running south to the town of Vavuniya.
The Tigers do many things. For example, the Tigers burned all the books that were rare volumes on the Tamil people and their history. The books were written on palm leaves over three hundred years ago, and they had nearly 100,000 volumes and were considered one of the best collections in Southeast Asia. No one was hurt in the fire, but the destruction of the books was devastating to the Tamil people.
The Tamil Tigers have also been accused by the cops for detonating a claymore explosive and killing three police officers driving a water tanker near the northern town of Vavuniya. This has been an ongoing problem since the mid-seventies, with the exceptiong of the last four years because of the ceased fire.
Our opinion is that we think there needs to be a solution to this problem. It is not right that children and innocent people are getting their lives taken for unnecessary reasons. The two sides need to come to an agreement so no more lives will be taken. The government needs to take control and start enforcing laws that need to be followed.
Child soldiers have been, and still is, a problem in Africa. UNICEF estimates that more than 300,000 children under the age of 18 serve in government forces or armed rebel groups and are currently being exploited in over 30 armed conflicts worldwide. Some of these children are as young as eight years old. Children this young are easy to persuade to become soldiers because of their emotional and physical immaturity. Also, child soldiers became more popular because of the technological advances in weaponry. You can now get lightweight automatic weapons that are easy to operate, often easily accessible, and can be used by children as easy as adults.
Boys and girls are both reported to be child soldiers. One third of the child soldiers are reported to be girls. The girls may be raped or given to military commanders as wives.
Children are also more likely to become child soldiers if they are poor, separated from their families, displaced from their homes, living in a combat zone or have limited access to education. Others who are very vulnerable to recruitments are orphans and refugees. Many children join armed groups because of economic or social pressure, or because the children believe that the group will provide them with food and security.
Child soldiers usually serve as porters or cooks, guards, messengers or spies. Male and female child soldiers are also often used as sex slaves, and therefore, are at a high risk of unwanted pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted diseases. However, many children are forced to the front lines or sent into minefields ahead of older troops. Some children have even been used for suicide missions. Some of these child soldiers even end up injuring or killing members of their own families or other child soldiers.
Child soldiers are often killed or wounded, with survivors often suffering multiple traumas and psychological scarring. Child soldiers are a global phenomenon, and this problem is most critical in Africa and Asia, but armed groups in the Americas, Eurasia, and the Middle East also use children.
