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Sri Lankan Rebels Recruit, Release Girls
Associated Press,
Thu January 13, 2005 12:49 EST .
SHIMALI SENANAYAKE - Associated Press Writer - COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) Tamil Tiger rebels recruited three tsunami-affected girls to their ranks but later released two of them, UNICEF officials said Thursday. Children accounted for a staggering 40 percent, or 12,000, of Sri Lanka's tsunami death toll of nearly 31,000. Another 800,000 people have been left homeless. Ted Chaiban, UNICEF's chief for Sri Lanka, said preliminary data indicated that nearly 1,000 children had been orphaned by the tsunami and another 3,200 lost one parent. The rebels repeatedly have denied actively recruiting children, saying that any minor who joins their forces does so because of poverty or the loss of parents. In 2003, the rebels agreed with both UNICEF and the government to free all child combatants, but the U.N. agency has accused the insurgents of continuing the practice. Chaiban also said there were at least six cases of child abuse in camps and two cases of attempted trafficking. He stressed that the figure could change because some cases have not been reported. Police this week arrested a man for allegedly trying to sell his two granddaughters, ages 7 and 9, to foreigners.
Published: Thu Jan 13 15:37:57 EST 2005
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Tsunami fishermen begin to set sail
BBC,
Thursday, 13 January, 2005, 13:47 GMT .
Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels are recruiting child soldiers from relief camps set up after December's tsunami, the United Nations says.
The UN's child agency, Unicef, says it has monitored the cases of three girls who had been recruited by the rebels.
