00:00:00 MUSIC 1
00:00:23-00:00:32 All of these children, you find them with uniform, taking guns, and
everyone of them has a different story.
[Hasabo Mohamed Abdelrahman, Humanitarian Commissioner, Sudan]
00:00:32-00:00:50 MUSIC 2
00:00:52-00:01:03 They tied me up until we reached the desert. Eventually, they untied me nd I waited for a chance to escape.
[Suleiman (Abdel Karim), Child Soldier]
00:01:06-00:01:26 Earlier this year these boys were fighting as child soldiers having
been forcibly recruited by the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality
Movement, JEM.
Some were recruited in Darfur, others in refugee camps of
neighbouring Chad.
They were captured by the Government after JEM launched an
attack on the Sudanese capital in May last year.
[VO]
00:01:28-00:01:44 They are just kids, they are school children. They have been forcibly
abducted, and then forcibly recruited. Five of them, they showed me
their hands. They had been tied for about a week in the cars. This means
they didn't want to go.
[Hasabo Mohamed Abdelrahman, Humanitarian Commissioner, Sudan]
00:01:47-00:02:15 On 10th May, JEM launch a surprise attack on Khartoum, the
seat of power in Sudan. Only meeting nominal resistance, columns
of rebel cars enter Omdurman – the sister city of Khartoum on the
west bank of the Nile.
At the bridge over the Nile – the key entry point to Khartoum – the
attack loses momentum. Tanks of Sudanese armed forces decimate
the rebel movement resulting in hundreds of fatalities and
casualties.
Local people in Omdurman see ragged, hungry, and thirsty rebels
fleeing in all directions.
[VO]
00:02:17-00:02:42 They were extremely young. They were all wearing turbans and were
firing big weapons. They were only small, 15 or 16 years old. They
looked very tired and thirsty. They took everything from my stall, even
the cucumbers.
[Haitem Mohamed Jemma, Shopkeeper]
00:02:44-00:03 In the chaos of the battle, tens of child soldiers tried to make their
escape. They looked for a safe refuge in the souqs of Omdurman
and among the nearby houses.
[VO]
00:02:52-00:03:17 When we arrived in Omdurman, I ran into the Souk. But I didn't know
my way around. In the end, some local people handed me into the
police. I was take first to a prison and then to this place. They brought
us here, where we have food and shelter. Thanks to God it's over.
[Ibrahim, Child Soldier]
00:03:22-00:03:51 After the battle of Omdurman, the Sudanese government organises
a display for the foreign media and diplomatic representatives.
Captured vehicles, ID cards, uniforms, are exhibited for the public.
President al-Beshir carries out his own personal inspection.
Out of the public eye, the government arrests and detains hundreds
of human rights activists and opposition incommunicado. The boys
are held separately.
[VO]
00:03:50-00:04:18 All the boys admitted they were involved but they were forced. They
were recruited with force and kidnapped from their families. They were
soldiers, but against their will. The boys are now the responsibility of
the Sudanese welfare authorities... not the Ministry of Defence. They
are no longer treated as culprits, but as victims.
[Amira Elfadil, Child Welfare, Sudan]
00:04:20-00:04:29 Many of the captured teenage soldiers come from neighbouring
Chad. Some speak French but little arabic. Often they were
violently taken only to work as little more than slaves for the rebels.
[VO]
00:04:30-00:04:47 I used to work in a bakery but when I went with a customer to get some
money for some bread, he said there is no money. They hauled me into
a four wheel drive. There was no money and they wouldn't let me go.
[Suleiman (Abdel Karim), Child Soldier]
00:04:48-00:05:07 In the refugee camps of Eastern Chad there are about 200 000
Darfuri refugees living in cramped conditions. Officially the
Chadian gendarmes are responsible for their protection. But the
rebels have no problem getting into the camps at night.
Community leaders are afraid to tell their story – their identities
have been concealed.
[VO]
00:05:10-00:05:29 I tell every committee that comes here now that the rebels come from
outside the camp to sleep in here. In the morning they go to the wadi.
They take children aged 11 or 10 or 5 years old with them. They take
them all. It's a problem.
[Refugee Camp Leader]
00:05:37-00:05:58 Every time I ask a rebel leader why he does this, that this is not good,
he says, “don't ask me, I come from N'djmena, you are in my country.
Don't ask me, I am an international rebel”
[Refugee Camp Leader]
00:06:00-00:06:06 British based advocacy organisation Waging Peace was one of the
first to highlight the forced recruitment of child soldiers.
[VO]
00:06:07-00:06:28 When we went to two camps in particular, we were taken aside by camp
leaders – refugee leaders – who told us that they had information that
they wanted to raise with us, share with us and which was extremely
concerning for them and this is when they started talking about the
trafficking and recruitment of child soldiers.
[Louise Roland Gosselin, Waging Peace]
00:06:32-00:06:45 According to United Nations estimates, there are about 10000
children in Darfur and Eastern Chad who have been forced to join
the various armed movements.
But main Darfur rebel movement denies it forcibly recruits
children.
[VO]
00:06:47-00:07:19 The fact is that we don't have child soldiers. We don't need them
actually because in Darfur we have a lot of men who are motivated to
take revenge for the killings happening to their families. The report
compiled by Waging Peace is just a fiction. Because this has nothing to
do with the truth on the ground.
[Gibril Ibrahim, Leader Justice and Equality Movement]
00:07:22-00:07:29 The Sudanese government has reached an agreement with the
international red cross. The red cross committing itself to tracing
the parents in Chad and reuniting them with the kidnapped boys.
[VO]
00:07:34-00:08:04 If the government decides to prosecute the boys, it will be in the
juvenile court. The Government is considering a number of other
options, including granting full freedom to these
children. So for now, there future is still uncertain.
[Amira Elfadil, Child Welfare, Sudan]