The boy soldiers and girl brides of war-torn North Kivu
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By Staff Writers | Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Thursday, Oct 18, 2018
DRC is one of the most complex humanitarian crises on the planet
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| Anita,16, was kidnapped and forced to marry a fighter when she was 15. Despite his promise of a dowry, she and her family received nothing. She was given little food and was beaten.
After a year she escaped. She now lives with grandmother, as her parents have both died.'He was in one of the armed factions. We didn’t have good food, he was often beating me, especially if he’s drunk. I was looking for ways to escape, and finally, I succeeded' she said. [Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/Save the Children] |
In
Democratic Republic of Congo, about six million children are affected
by conflict, many of them in North Kivu in the country's east. Now, this
same province is the epicentre of a new Ebola outbreak that threatens
to further increase the chaos.
In war-torn North Kivu, boys as
young as 14 describe being forced to fight on the battlefield under a
spell of "Juju", or black magic, so they wouldn't be afraid of bullets.
Girls describe being abducted by armed groups and forced into marriage
with their captors.
A Save the Children analysis of more than 10
years of United Nations data showed a dramatic increase in atrocities
against children in the DRC. Last year saw the highest level of verified
child casualties on record, and the highest level of recruitment of
child soldiers for nearly a decade.
"It's children like these who
are paying the price for this brutal, forgotten conflict. They have
been robbed of their childhoods. And without urgent medical and
psychological help, they could lose the chance of building a future,"
said Save the Children's Country Director in DR Congo, Heather Kerr.
"We're
on the ground giving as many children as we can the tools they need to
rebuild their lives. But there are thousands more who are on their own.
With the right support, we could reach them.
"These children have
seen things that no child should ever have to see. We can't change
their past, but with the right support we can help rebuild their lives"
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| Camp for communities displaced by conflict. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Ainkamiye,15, was abducted and forced to work unpaid as a house servant for the commander of an armed group in North Kivu. She tried to escape but the militia imprisoned her and watched over her so she couldn't leave, taunting her with sexual advances. Ainkamiye was forced to cook and fetch water for the group's commander. The commander said he wanted to marry her. Then one day he sexually assaulted her – and she knew she had to escape. When he sent her to buy some oil the next day, she saw her chance and began to run – trembling and stumbling as she crossed the bush.
Ainkamiye managed to get away but the experience that she went through still haunts her. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Esther waits with her children outside a Save the Children health clinic in a camp for communities displaced by conflict. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Nzitonda, 14, fled the armed group that had recruited him after seeing his friends killed in battle. Nzitonda was lured into an armed group with the promise of food and money. He had been struggling to get by, was hungry and had dropped out of school. Now, he is living back with his family and tends to sheep. He's hoping the money he can make selling them might be able to pay for his school fees. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Alphonsine and her baby wait outside a Save the Children health clinic in a camp for communities displaced by conflict. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| A choir sings during Sunday service at camp for communities displaced by conflict. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Former child soldier Rukara, 15, remembers the bloodshed he witnessed during brutal battles in North Kivu. Together with his young comrades, Rukara was routinely drugged to remove inhibitions about the deadly attacks they were instructed to take part in. He describes how the older fighters would also often accuse him of wrongdoing, and torture him with punishments when he refused to confess. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Three survivors of sexual assault walk through a camp for people displaced by the conflict in North Kivu, eastern DR Congo. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Uwase, 17, sits at home in North Kivu, DRC. Uwase was lured into early marriage with the promise of a dowry but shortly after the wedding her husband began beating and starving her.As a child, Uwase lived with her mother and they eked out a meagre living selling firewood and cultivating her neighbour's land. She was 15 when she accepted the hand of an older man in the hope of a better life, food and comforts. Despite his promise of a dowry, it never materialized. What’s more, soon after the marriage, her husband turned violent – beating her on a daily basis. She continued to live in poverty, with barely anything to eat or drink. After five months she could bear it no longer and escaped to return home to her mother. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Ainkamiye,15, was abducted and forced to work unpaid as a house servant for the commander of an armed group in North Kivu. She tried to escape but the militia imprisoned her and watched over her so she couldn't leave, taunting her with sexual advances. Ainkamiye was forced to cook and fetch water for the group's commander. The commander said he wanted to marry her. Then one day he sexually assaulted her – and she knew she had to escape. When he sent her to buy some oil the next day, she saw her chance and began to run – trembling and stumbling as she crossed the bush.
Ainkamiye managed to get away but the experience that she went through still haunts her. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Former child soldier Rukara, 15, remembers the bloodshed he witnessed during brutal battles in North Kivu. Together with his young comrades, Rukara was routinely drugged to remove inhibitions about the deadly attacks they were instructed to take part in. He describes how the older fighters would also often accuse him of wrongdoing, and torture him with punishments when he refused to confess. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Sarah, 16, overlooks a camp for communities displaced by conflict in North Kivu, DRC. Sarah fell pregnant following a rape and now struggles to provide for her baby.Sarah was 15 when she was raped on her way back home from a visit to the hospital, in a vicious attack that left her pregnant. Her assailant, who then abandoned her, is now in jail. But for Sarah, his imprisonment gives little closure. She considers her life as destroyed. She wants to go back to school but currently struggles to afford food or provide for her baby's basic needs. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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| Kabera,16, was a schoolboy when he began working in a gold mine near his home. One day, on his way out of the mine, he was intercepted by a group of militiamen who threatened to kill him if he didn't join them. He was trained on how to use a gun, kill and rob people. He describes how the fighters would perform 'juju spells' on child soldiers, making them believe they were invincible during the bloody battles that they were forced to take part in. He was tattooed and his every move controlled.
Kabera has now left the militia. Upon demobilizing, he saw how people in the community feared him because he was a child soldier. He now wants to return to school and is currently being rehabilitated back into the community. HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/SAVE THE CHILDREN |
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