Tamil rebels recruit 40 children since tsunami

The UN children’s agency said today that Tamil Tiger rebels have recruited 40 children since the tsunami orphaned hundreds a month ago.

“We have 40 verified cases,” said Martin Dawyes, a UNICEF spokesman in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo.

Four of the cases were from welfare camps for post-tsunami survivors. The others were recruited in the aftermath of the disaster in villages under rebel control in the north and east of the island.

“UNICEF is very concerned about the recruitment,” Dawyes said.

The UN organisation complained to the rebel group last week over 29 specific cases, but he said the Tigers had not yet responded.

No immediate comment was available from the rebels.

Most of the recruitment was from the area of Trincomalee on the eastern coast which was hit hard by the tsunami. One of the recruits was 13 years old, and others were 17, he said.

The organisation’s field staff had received complaints from families of children taken by the rebels and verified 40. He did not say how many complaints it investigated.

UNICEF was focusing its efforts on providing relief for hundreds of thousands of survivors displaced by the tsunami, but was continuing to monitor alleged cases of child abuse and recruitment by the rebels, he said.