Child Soldiering and its Implications for National Security in Liberia
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Date
2017-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Danubius University of Galati, Romania
Abstract
For fourteen years, Liberia was involved in a bloody civil war, in which the state and
armed non-state actors made use of children as soldiers in combat operations. The overwhelming
involvement of children in the armed struggles was presumed to be a negative trend that seriously
undermined their personal productive capacity and the Liberian national security. This paper
examined the use of children as soldiers in Liberia and its implications for the security of the country.
The paper explored the causes of the Liberian civil war, the nexus between the war and child
soldiering, the factors that aided the recruitment of children as soldiers and the physical and
psychological effects of the war on the children. Findings from the study, which utilized data from
secondary sources, were that the Liberian civil wars were caused by structural violence, perpetrated
by indigenous rulers against their citizens for decades. Many children were forcefully or willfully
recruited by the government and armed non-state actors to prosecute the war. Children were more
preferable for the war because they were cheap to procure and easy to be lured into combatant
operations because of their tender age and low level of comprehension and perception of dangers
associated with war and their less understanding of the implications of their actions for national
security at that formative age. The Liberian war had both physical and psychological effects on the
children. Apart from the physical destruction of their lives and those of other innocent citizens, many
of the child soldiers showed symptoms of psychological complications in form of post-traumatic
stress disorder. The paper also found that the use of child soldiers by warring factions in Liberia
denied the kids of their childhood with negative consequences for their future progress and prosperity
as adults. The reintegration programmes that were put in place for the rehabilitation of the children
into the communities ended with marginal success due to concert of internal and external factors.
Evidence still remains of past maltreatment and neglect of Liberia‘s ex-child soldiers, many of who
are still physically and psychologically traumatized having remained largely uneducated,
unemployable and thus, vulnerable to permanent poverty and re-recruitment for armed conflicts
elsewhere across the world. The paper concluded that the use of child soldiers in Liberia, just like in other parts of the world will not stop until extreme deprivation facing the children, which leads to
their impoverishment, is addressed and until they have better opportunities for their personal and
group development aspirations. It is recommended; amongst others, that good governance should be
pursued to a logical conclusion in Liberia while the government should continue to address all acts of
structural violence against the children in the country.
Description
Keywords
Child, soldiers, security, Liberia
Citation
Raji, S.A. (2017): Child soldiering and its implications for national security in Liberia