Children in Terrorism

Abstract

Recently, the world watched in horror as an armed group of young children from Islamic terrorist organizations, dressed in combat gear, marched through the streets of Beirut, chanting their willingness to die for their leader or god2. The role of children in various armed conflicts dates back a long way. The children soldiers in the XXth century were known, as members of the Hitlerjugend organization. However, in addition to the Germans, the British, the Americans, also used minors for violent actions. Nowadays, the topicality of the topic, though, has been revived by the Islamic State terrorist organization. The highest child mortality rate was reported in Aleppo, where more than 2,000 children died as a result of the attack. There are many examples in history of the involvement of child soldiers, but by 1990 this problem had been pushed into the background. The change is largely due to a study by Mozambican politician Graça Machel, who, at the request of the then UN Secretary-General, developed his work „Impact of armed conflict on children”3. He pointed out that children and women could be future targets for various extremist movements. Several EU Member States have confirmed that the number of their nationals, especially women and children, increased in various camps and prisons in March 2019 in north-eastern Syria4. There are currently 10 countries where it is common practice for children to participate in or join the struggle. These are Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Congo, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan and Syria5. In my study, I focus on the participation of children in violent groups.