Sudan child soldiers struggle to adapt to peace

January 18, 2005

By Katie Nguyen

RUMBEK, Sudan, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Former boy soldier Abraham Mabor considers himself a veteran of Sudan's bitter civil war, and even has the scars to prove it.

His first skirmish, fighting at the age of 15 alongside the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), ended in two gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

Today, seven years on, the physical wounds have long healed. But like thousands of other ex-child warriors Mabor is marked emotionally by his military upbringing in ways that suggest he could struggle in an era of reconciliation now peace has come to the south.

"I cannot leave the military," said Mabor, now 22 and a student. "The SPLA is my mother and father, they are my family."

The SPLA began disarming underage fighters well before it signed a deal with the Islamist government on Jan 9, ending a 21-year war the SPLA fought for the right of self-determination for the mainly animist and Christian south.

Locals in the SPLA stronghold of Rumbek complain that many of the former child soldiers are unable to adjust to civilian life. Too traumatised by war and prone to picking fights if they do not have their own way, many are viewed as troublemakers.

The U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that up to 16,000 SPLA fighters under 18 have shed their fatigues and given up their guns since 1999.

There are still up to 3,500 children in SPLA ranks, typically doing menial tasks like fetching water.

When his wounds healed, Mabor's commander told the then 15-year-old to hand over his AK-47 and go back to school.

But it is hard to wrench free from military life for those like Mabor, born and orphaned in more than two decades of war.

It is not the blood, guts and glory of the battlefield that lure these young men back to the SPLA, but poverty and the deep desire to belong somewhere.

REVENGE

Apart from volunteers, the SPLA has traditionally recruited its members through a quota system imposed on village communities.

"Since many males are considered adults at the age of 14, communities haven't had any problem sending children," said UNICEF child protection officer Una McCauley.

"They may have been given uniforms, but by and large the movement (SPLA) has resisted using children on the frontline because they've had able-bodied men to do the job."

Also, there are emotions that sit at odds with the ideal of reconciliation.

In the empty yard of a school, Mabor tells how Antonov planes circled over Rumbek 10 years ago, bombing the town and forcing its people to scatter into the thick, thorny bush.

Mabor lost sight of his parents, his sister and two brothers in the confused scramble.

"I wanted to take revenge against the Arabs. I wanted to avenge my parents," he said, remembering three years spent hiking through the bush, shouldering a rifle he could barely hold upright.

All Mabor cares about now is finishing secondary school and enlisting in southern Sudan's new army.

With peace, the SPLA plans to turn itself from a guerrilla movement into a professional army for the south -- a key concern in a country where former enemies have yet to build trust.

"When the military is reorganised, it will be with young people who are strong, and who can read and write," Mabor said.

URL:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/8168937.htm