Categories: News

South Sudan Militia Releases Hundreds of Child Soldiers, Plans To Release Thousands More

This week, South Sudanese militia South Sudan Democratic Army Cobra Faction freed hundreds of child soldiers due to a peace deal they signed, according to the United Nation‘s children agency, UNICEF, which will eventually return thousands of youths back to their families, reports the BBC.

After a failed coup against President Salva Kiir in 2013, Kiir allegedly ordered the slaughter of more than 10,000 Nuers, immediately galvanizing an ethnic war between the Nuer and the Dinka.

And since then, about 12,000 children have been recruited by armed groups.

The Cobra faction has reportedly been a part of cattle raids and “revenge attacks” for the past four years in Pibor County, Jonglei State.

However, with Cobra leader David Yau Yau accepting negotiation terms, 280 children were released.

One child soldier, 11-year-old “Silva,” whose name has been changed to protect his identity, spoke of his experience:

“I have been fighting for more than two years. I haven’t seen my mother and father since last summer.

“I’ve seen many people killed when I was on missions.

“I had an AK-47. It was heavy. I was fighting to protect my family and village.

“Now I want to go to school and learn. I don’t want to fight anymore, I was scared.”

Another 2,700 child soldiers are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

Watch video about the child soldiers’ release in South Sudan here:

Abena Agyeman-Fisher

Abena Agyeman-Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of Face2Face Africa. Most recently, she worked for Interactive One as the Senior Editor of NewsOne, she worked for AOL as the News Programming Manager of Black Voices, which later became HuffPo Black Voices, and for the New York Times Company as an Associate Health Editor. Abena, a Spelman College graduate, has been published in Al Jazeera, the Daily Beast, New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger, the Grio, BlackVoices, West Orange Patch, About.com, the Source, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Jane, and Upscale Magazines. She has interviewed top celebrities, icons, and politicians, such as First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett, Civil Rights activist and diplomat Andrew Young, comedian Bill Cosby, Grammy Award-winning singer Jill Scott, actress and singer Queen Latifah, Olympic Gold winner Cullen Jones, international supermodel Alek Wek, and five-division world champion boxer Floyd Mayweather. Most recently, she served as the First Lady’s press reporter during President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Summit, Young African Leaders Institute event, and the 2013 presidential trip to Senegal, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Tanzania. Abena is also a 2015 International Women's Media Foundation Africa Great Lakes Fellow, where she reported on women candidates and Chinese sweatshops in Tanzania for CNN and Refinery29.

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View Comments

Adhieu Majok says:

January 28, 2015 at 7:57 pm

I read your piece on Face2Face Africa and would like to thank you for drawing attention to the child soldier problem in South Sudan.

Regarding what President Kiir did (order the slaughter of Nuer) and especially the death toll of the Nuer during the conflict (10,000). The first allegation cannot be clearly confirmed and there is no report saying that 10,000 Nuer were killed during this crisis. I was in Juba myself when the crisis broke out and I extensively follow the news as co-founder and editor of one of South Sudan's leading news sites. However you did state 'allegedly', I still wanted to bring this to you and readers' attention.

These allegtions are damaging and will continue to demonise a tribal group who themselves have been slaughtered or chased out of the Upper Nile region where most of the fighting takes place.

The conflict is not as black and white as most international media have attempted to put it. It is a power struggle and tribal elements have been clearly exploited to justify the fighting. Furthermore, the rebel leader has had a history of working against the government of South Sudan and the liberation movement all in the name of oil.

It's important to fully understand the context of a conflict rather than taking a few lines and running with it.

Regards.