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UN says at least 1500 Child Soldiers fighting for LTTE
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by Hiranya Malwatta | February 22, 2009 at 11:51 am
1002 views | 40 Recommendations | 33 comments
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UN says that as of last September, at least 1500 children were still serving as Tamil Tiger Fighters. Sri Lankan government says it has taken steps to rehabilitate the Child Soldiers who've been captured or surrendered on the battle field. David Hawkins of Al Jazeera reports from a rehabilitation center in Ambepussa, Sri Lanka and gives insight into what these children - some here are not children any more -are going through now, and what they have to say.
This report from Al Jazeera comes at the same time as the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sir John Holmes completed his visit in Sri Lanka. David Hawkins did a news coverage on this visit as well.
Watch David Hawkins' Report here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW2sI6qbzSA
John Holmes, the UN's senior humanitarian official, has visited government-run camps in Sri Lanka for the tens of thousands of people fleeing the fighting in the country's northeast.
Holmes urged the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger fighters to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, ahead of his visit on Friday.
About 30,000 ethnic Tamils are currently in government-run camps south of Sri Lanka's war zone.
Tens of thousands of others are expected to join them in coming weeks, the government says.
Al Jazeera's David Hawkins, reporting from the northern Vavuniya district, said the camps for Sri Lanka's displaced appeared to meet international standards.
"Holmes is here to see whether or not the food and the shelter are adequate ... and it seems to me that they are," he said
"But there's another question, as to whether or not people have freedom of movement."
The Sri Lankan government has been criticised for limiting free movement of the displaced people, preventing them from leaving the camps.
Officials, however, say its a largely bureacuratic issue, promising they will be allowed to leave the camps once they have received government identification cards.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (33)
at 11:54 on February 22nd, 2009
I can't seem to add this video in my story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDaLZGuQd90
at 12:02 on February 22nd, 2009
Hope this helps. Here it is.
at 12:05 on February 22nd, 2009
when I add any other youtube video it gets added, but not this one. there's something seriously wrong with these tools.
at 13:02 on February 22nd, 2009
Ok managed to add a different URL of the same video.
at 13:19 on February 22nd, 2009
tried it also now, i thought I did add it :-)
It works
at 00:56 on February 23rd, 2009
I watched David Hawkin's reportage on Al Jazeera TV as well. They showed John Holmes going around in IDP camps and talking to people. He showed concern that the people are not allowed to go out however, but otherwise he was satisfied. Some kids spoke in tamil which I didn't understand, the translation was that they feel safe here, they can study, so they like it.
at 12:45 on February 28th, 2009
But why everybody try to hide when a tamil woman said "my son was taken by the military" and when Minister Pathyudeen translate her "My sone was taken by LTTE"..what a great translation. I don't think people have freedom of speech in Sri Lanka.
at 00:49 on March 2nd, 2009
provide a source for what you are saying please. some footage would be ideal.
at 19:09 on February 22nd, 2009
This is shocking. How can you fight for independence using child soldiers. Thanks for posting this.
at 08:09 on February 23rd, 2009
More shocking than the Sri Lankan Army massacres Tamil orphans?http://www.greenleft.org.au/2006/680/7821
Or more shocking than the Sri Lankan Army itself elects to use under aged soldiers? http://www.flickr.com/photos/terrorlanka/3150612538/ Wow, ignorance is bliss, and sometimes inappropriate.at 17:46 on February 28th, 2009
these kids' mothers were raped n their relatives death have ben treated to such satrocities that these kids have no choise but to sought revenge... whic is normal in a country when the srilankan government is corrupted and the army rapin every women in the area ... right now there are lik hitler like concentration camps in safe zones ... independant witness prove srilankan government bombin hospitals this from a british program that you can check out... http://www.srilankantube.com/video/Sri-Lankan-Ambassador-Grilled-b ...anychild under this circumstance without a second thought would enter and kill the killer of their family... nothing shockin but da harsh reality...
at 00:52 on March 2nd, 2009
hahaha yes all Wanni children with one voice say we love Prabha, we want to die for Prabha !
what a fairy tale like the rest of what you say.
at 20:06 on February 22nd, 2009
Children fighting for their freedom from LTTE's "claws". LTTE, being free to even have their own "air wing" , figting to keep the children in their "freedom force". The parents of the children are fighting their tears.
Catch-22.
.Agent.
at 07:57 on February 23rd, 2009
Above all the accusations I have heard of LTTE recruiting child soldiers, why Sri Lankan government is recruiting child soldiers for a breakaway faction of rebels group? If the government is actually interested in the Tamils children lives should not the children be educated? Given an opportunity to thrive? Why the Sri Lankan government and Army are recruiting Tamils children soldiers to die for another group? If Sri Lankan Government and Army are so concerned about under aged children in LTTE, why not take this opportunity give education and other basic necessities of life to the children they can?
The fact is children in the North & East Tamils regions don't have choices. The Tamils children’s choices come down to pure survival. There are many orphans due to Sri Lankan Army attacks on Tamils civilians. These orphans and other children have very few choices. One of them is to join LTTE to fight for Tamils autonomy and they willingly do so.Sri Lankan government propaganda's about child soldiers in LTTE, but they themselves have many in their Sri Lankan Army; Sri Lankan government does not give or create any opportunities for Tamils children. If they do, why would anybody under aged would want to join LTTE? If the Sri Lankan Government says that the LTTE has abducted many under aged and hard to free them, why not give opportunities to the ones you can, like the ones in the news below? Why let them die too?
LTTE did try to repair their name from having children in their military. These are orphans of the attacks of Sri Lankan government and Sri Lankan government won’t setup any orphanage to care for these children. Hence the children only felt as they can go to LTTE.
Chencholai was one of the attempts. However, only reviews the LTTE got were they are training children to become LTTE. The children were educated, fed had a shelter and were not part of the war. However the Sri Lankan Government purposefully bombed the Chencholai Children Orphanage and killed the children even though it knew all casualties would be children.
http://sthweb.bu.edu/shaw/anna-howard-shaw-center/biography?view=mediawiki&article=Chencholai_bombing
If that would be the fate of Tamils children regardless of whether they are in LTTE or outside LTTE, why not join the LTTE and at least fight for a cause before you die? Would not you get the same mentality if you put in the same position? That’s why there are children soldiers in the LTTE.Why the government did not attempt to capture the Chencholai Children and rehabilitate their lives? Why purposefully kill children? As far as the Sri Lankan Government concerned any Tamil’s death is not a loss, regardless of their age, it is a gain to add to their statistic of rooting out of Tamils from Sri Lanka.
As far as Sri Lankan government and Army concerned there is no distinction between Tamils and Tamils Tigers. Under aged children or elderly can be Tigers too regardless of where they are and what they do.
Tamils in Sri Lanka are not fighting for advancement. The war on Tamils civilians has come down to basic survival - just living, having food and having a shelter have come as luxuries to these Tamils and the children and there are still people out there feel obligated to criticize these Tamils civilians’ deaths with no moral responsibility.
Now to the news:
Sri Lanka army is accused of recruiting child soldiers for rebel group:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1534152/Sri-Lanka-army-is-accused-of-recruiting-child-soldiers-for-rebel-group.html
Sri Lankan army shells hit children's hospital:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/srilanka/4429303/Sri-Lankan-army-shells-hit-childrens-hospital.html
at 09:14 on February 23rd, 2009
Oh this BULL sounds very familiar - GENOCIDE............ isn't it?
at 17:59 on February 28th, 2009
my question to you as srilankan citizen is have you ever been to the tamil region of sri lanka to know whats really going on than just trusting the srilankan media... Every Singalese person should go there and witness the death tackled by the sri lankan army ... raped mothers and children being orphed ... WHY IS THERE TETTORIST? AND WHY WOULD THEY KILL TAMILS WHEN THEY ARE FIGHTING FOR THE TAMIL TO GET THE BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS RATHER THAN BEING TREATED AS DOGS????
at 00:59 on March 2nd, 2009
MY ANSWER to you is my BEST FRIEND, a female, tamil speaking (because she was born in Jaffna) went to the War torn area, spoke to a LOT of people, Tamils/Muslims/Sinhalese and therefore I know EXACTLY what those people have to say.
Furthermore, she got the opportunity to speak to escaped CHILD SOLDIERS. Therefore, I can guarantee you that I do not take what the government says for the sake of it.
What do you know about it? You want us to believe your word when you hide behind a fake name like 'dilini' ?
at 09:22 on February 23rd, 2009
Anyone having no compassion for the tears and cries of children and their parents of one's own Race (I use the word Race here because the term one's own community doesn't seem fitting here) - How can you expect one to have compassion for human life in general?
No wonder Prabhakaran thrived in producing Human Bombs.
at 20:29 on February 24th, 2009
Yes indeed. Ignorence is such bliss. You are in a cozy living room some 1000 miles away an typing away your rhetorical cacophony.
Who spends for the education of the tamil children? Who provides food, shelter and protection for them now?
Definitely not your uncle who is 30ft under.
at 17:46 on February 23rd, 2009
Twelve quetion marks in your reply. Don't have time to put complete sentences in the quote, so keeping only question marks.
Do you know milk...milk ? Only one drop of curd is enough to turn a complete tank of pure milk into curd .Children can't get their education while the LTTE is thriving and lurking and infesting around. So Sri Lankan government is conducting an "operation pest-house". Once the area is clean of pests see how the children come up in life.
In the next time please don't forget to put "PROPAGANDA" and "GENOCIDE" in your pieces - as Hiranya said. Get a feeling like we lost some part of our body :-))
Btw how is birather pirapaharan doing...??
.Agent.
at 17:53 on February 28th, 2009
First of all know your fact before talkin.. why would a child go fight agaiinst the group ...its a purpose that is forced against them when their mother are being raped by the Sri lankan army right infront of their eyes... ofcourse if this were to happen to any for your you would have understood the pain of revenge these children undergo to fight against the army... and the children born from the raped mothers joinin the LTTE while their dad's are killing their tamils ... first of all how is there education when the Srilankan army bombs hospitals schools temples churches etc... http://www.srilankantube.com/video/Sri-Lankan-Ambassador-Grilled-b look at this video yourself made by the BBC NEWS... who usually support the Sri lankan government ...
at 19:59 on February 23rd, 2009
please visit the tamil_tigers site as well
Thanks
at 23:44 on February 23rd, 2009
alwis, thank you very much for the link.
FBI says,
"As terrorist groups go, it has quite a résumé:
No, it’s not al Qaeda or Hezbollah or even HAMAS. The group is called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or the Tamil Tigers for short.
Needless to say, the Tamil Tigers are among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world. For more than three decades, the group has launched a campaign of violence and bloodshed in Sri Lanka, the island republic off the southern coast of India."
"You can help by being careful with your donations. Like other terrorists, the Tigers have raised funds under a variety of cover organizations, often by posing as charities. A great deal of money, for example, was raised for the Tigers following the 2004 tsunami that devastated Sri Lanka and many other countries."
at 12:13 on February 28th, 2009
This is one side of the story shown by sri lankan govt to external world / medias. No one is allowed near the concentration camps where the sri lankan army abuses tamils and kill them. How can someone speak truth at gunpoint ? We already know how the outspoken journalists are treated by the sri lankan govt .. there are also sri lankan army in civilian dess spying around and if anyone speaks againt them are killed or 'disapeared'. unless independent medias are allowed all stories are made up by the sri lankan govt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEinP0Cl1aQ
at 13:03 on February 28th, 2009
wow...
what a great loving Sinhala community i have here. They care about Tamils a lot. Specillay they care about the Tamil KIDS.
Here is the video how SL government taking care of Tamil pople and their kids. Must watch.
My dear Sinhala brother and sister. Do NOt close the window.
THIS NOT TIGERS PROBAGANDA.. This the reality happens inside vanni.
If you a human watch until the end..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxcvrQiXFIA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5B0aYv-wJY
then answer here. we are trying to say whos right who's wrong. BUT THIS NOT ACCEPTABLE
at 14:11 on February 28th, 2009
Not verified and ofcource "Propaganda" and not "Probaganda" but "PRABAgunda"
at 18:08 on February 28th, 2009
Know both side before talkin and making fun ... this is verified and it the srilankan government that banned any journaist and killed all journaist from entering the tamil region a well known fact ...so stop geting your false ideas such as propaganda and making look yourself look like a fool without any facts to support your idea as propaganda... think straight and get your facts right before commenting...
at 08:09 on March 9th, 2009
@Dilini» WOW! What balanced[sic] analysis you do. Very factual[sic] and gives the impression that you are on-location.[sic]
It certainly makes you look very wise[sic] and you are one standout[sic] performer at NP.
at 16:32 on February 28th, 2009
This photo from paramilitary of sri lankan forces who trained by karuna group. SL misleading the world and do the state terror on minority people and getting world aids and buildup slaughter army. Do you know more then 2500 tamils killed and injured more than5000 . In the no-warzone shelling and air bombing daily. This clearly genocide. They can't allow the independant media reporters in warzone because they don't want truth comeout to the world. From this world let to know the 2nd horror face of SL.
at 00:32 on March 2nd, 2009
So killing fleeing innocent Tamils are right? That what you want to say about LTTE. Keeping them as human shield is correct? Making children as suicide bombs and sent to front line is done by Sri Lankan Army? These were not created by any one. Even you may not live in Sri lanka. Just tell anything comes to u. it is well clear what LTTE was doing last years. They have tourcher cells for whom? those were not for Sinhalese or any other one, those were filled with innocent tamils who opposed LTTE. Who was not willing to join or pay taxes.
Please stand against these sort of things rather talking about genocide stuff. These days it is a hot topic to pay attention but good to say, because of this people are more aware what is really happening.