Sri Lanka's Current Conflict
More than 64,000 civilians have died in two decades of ongoing civil strife throughout the country. These two decades have placed Sri Lanka in a frail state where there are continuous abductions, torturing, and mass murders. The government has continuously attacked the Tamils in the northern and eastern parts of the country; on the other hand, the LTTE have attacked the Sinhalese and Muslim civilians located in the southern part of the country.
Following the end of the colonial rule in Sri Lanka, Sinhala became the official language, damaging the future of many Tamils. The Tamils were outraged at the actions of the new government, so they rebelled throughout the country. Anti-Tamil violence ensued, throwing the country into shambles. In the middle of the 1980s, the LTTE was formed and quickly became the most powerful armed group in the northern and eastern sectors of the country. The LTTE ran a de facto government by collecting taxes and ruling through violence and fear. Ending the first spurts of violence was the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 in which India promised to stop the outbreaks of Tamil violence. The eruption of fighting between the Indian peacekeeping forces (IPKF) and the LTTE forced the IPKF to leave Sri Lanka. Violence throughout the country continued until February 2002. The new cease-fire created a group that oversaw the country. The LTTE withdrew from peace talks in April 2003, in protest of the fact that the United States failed to recognize them. Following the withdrawal, more violence ensued. The eastern faction of the LTTE accused the LTTE of discriminating against Tamils in eastern Sri Lanka. The violence between the two groups escalated; however, the Sri Lankan army kept a strong denial of the fact that they were providing support to the faction fighting the LTTE. In August of 2005, the LTTE was accused of assassinating the foreign minister. Even more violence ensued as 20,000 people were displaced in the time of two years. No more peace talks exist, as violence as escalated rapidly.
Sri Lanka's Use of Child Soldiers
The current estimates state that more than 60% of the LTTE is made of child soldiers, with some being as young as nine. The LTTE recruits children by indoctrinating their cause through schools and by pleading to parents to give one of their children to the cause of the Tamils. Many of Sri Lanka’s teachers cede to the recruitment of children in classrooms because they fear the consequences. In the past, the LTTE have been known to dismember and decapitate teachers in front of the children.
In the beginning, children are used as guards, cooks, spies, or messengers, but as their experience grows, they are placed in the frontlines. Units of child soldiers train for 4-6 months in the jungle before leaving for active combat against Sri Lanka armed forces. Even though there is known sexual exploitation of children, girls are routinely recruited in order to be suicide bombers, as guards search girls less invasively as checkpoints. Severe conditions and malnutrition has been continuously reported throughout the LTTE camps. The threats of violence and fear continue to evade the minds of every child and family in Sri Lanka.
