‘Sun god’ recruits children to fight for Eelam
[28 July 2000]

“They must be shamed, disgraced and held accountable for their actions,” Carol Bellamy, Head, UN Children’s Fund said on Wednesday about protecting youngsters in war zones, at a Security Council debate on children in armed conflict.

Velupillai Prabhakaran, self acclaimed as the ‘Sun god’, leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has created a virtual cult making his armies believe that they are fighting for the Tamil people, but in reality terrorising the whole island and in this process conscripting innocent children.

Statistics indicate that around 300,000 children are recruited into armies mostly by rebel groups, from Sierra Leone to Sri Lanka. 
The LTTE is conscripting both boys and girls as young as 10 years for their fight for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka.

Despite pledges to the UN official for children in armed conflict, Olara Otunnu, the LTTE have continued to recruit children by force, taking them away from their homes and training them to take away innocent lives in a ruthless 17 year war.

 According to Otunnu, the Security Council and other key actors can make a big difference by using their collective weight and influence to lean on parties in conflict. 

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