War: The Impact on Minority and Indigenous Children

Book excerpt: While children who are members of minority and indigenous communities suffer discrimination at the hands of the majority community, in today’s armed conflicts – where most are fought internally, pitching one group against another – this discrimination frequently turns to violence, with such children seen as ‘legitimate targets’ despite the wealth of international law to the contrary. MRG’s Report War: The Impact on Minority and Indigenous Children focuses on three recent or current armed conflicts and, through interviews with children and others, pieces together the effect these wars have had on: the Jumma children of the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, the Maya children of Guatemala, and minority children of Somalia. The Report shows that these children have often come to be seen as ‘the enemy’, being murdered, raped, or tortured in the course of the war. Others have been forced to watch the killing or abuse of their parents and other members of their communities. Some have been forced to join militias where they have killed or been killed. Yet more have had to flee their homes, often without their families, and live as internally displaced people or as refugees; many have little hope of ever being reunited with their families or of being able to return home. A special feature of this Report is its recommendations which aim to help minimize the risks and threats to minority and indigenous children in armed conflicts. Each section offers a series of recommendations to the relevant governments and international bodies concerned, and these are complemented by a general set of recommendations at the end of the Report.