“Because non-state actors are not bound by internationally enforceable legal instruments, they should be subject to stricter scrutiny and more rigorous and internationally enforceable punitive measures,” Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Prasad Kariyawasam said in his contribution to the Security Council debate on children in armed conflict.
Elaborating on this point, Ambassador Kariyawasam explained that although there are a number of mechanisms in place to curb the recruitment of children as combatants by terrorist organisations, the practice is still continuing. To end child recruitment, it is important for the Council and the Working Group to remain focused on that most urgent task rather than seeking to broaden the debate to include other issues that are not of immediate practical benefit, he added.
Ambassador Kariyawasam called upon the Council to address situations in which armed actors are resorting to new recruitment tactics, as in northern Sri Lanka, where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are subjecting schoolchildren to compulsory weapons and combat training.
He added, “The Council and the Working Group must agree on how to deal with persistent and recalcitrant violators. Sri Lanka supports effective, targeted measures. The reintegration of child combatants is the most important of all measures underpinning effective implementation of resolution 1612 (2005). Successful reintegration requires resources as well as expertise. The international community’s concern should therefore move beyond words of sympathy to sustained engagement and the flow of necessary resources.”
Courtesy: Government Information Department