Armed groups kill, recruit more children in Niger, says Amnesty

Growing numbers of children are being killed or targeted for recruitment by armed groups in conflicts raging across Niger’s borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, Amnesty International said in a report released on Monday.

“In the Tillabéri region of Niger, an entire generation is growing up surrounded by death and destruction,” said Matt Wells, Amnesty’s deputy director of crisis response.

“Armed groups have repeatedly attacked schools and reserves, and target children for recruitment,” he added in a statement.

Amnesty has accused the Islamic State of the Greater Sahara (EIGS) and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) of causing “the devastating impact on children” in the region.

The rights group released a 57-page report documenting the impact on children of conflict in western Niger at Tillabéri, a large 100,000 square kilometer (38,000 square mile) area on the border with Mali and Burkina Faso which is home to different ethnic groups such as Djerma, Peul, Tuareg and Hausa.

According to the conflict monitoring organization ACLED, cited by Amnesty, violence against civilians killed 544 conflict-related deaths from January to July 23 of this year, already exceeding the 397 people killed in all of 2020.

“Armed groups killed more than 60 children in Niger’s tri-border area in 2021,” the report said, adding that ISGS, which operates mainly on the border with Mali, appears to be responsible for most of the killings in the country. large scale.

During research for the report, Amnesty interviewed 16 boys who had narrowly survived ISGS attacks on their villages. One boy, aged 13 or 14, said: “We are all used to hearing gunshots and seeing [dead] people are superimposed [dead] people”.

Another boy, who witnessed the murder of his 12-year-old friend Wahab in March, told researchers: “I think of Wahab and how he was killed.

“Sometimes I have nightmares about being chased by people on motorbikes or seeing Wahab pleading with the [attackers] again.’

Amnesty said: “Both ISGS and JNIM have committed war crimes and other abuses in the conflict, including the killing of civilians and the targeting of schools.

“Many children suffer trauma after witnessing deadly attacks on their villages. In some areas, women and girls have been banned from activities outside the home and risk being abducted or forcibly marrying combatants.

Witnesses said JNIM selected men between the ages of 15 and 17, and possibly younger, as recruits, offering bribes in the form of food, money and clothing.

“The Nigerien government and its international partners must urgently take action to monitor and prevent further abuses and protect the human rights of all those affected by this deadly conflict, especially children,” Wells said.

Amnesty International said it interviewed 119 people, including 22 children, three young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 and 36 parents for the study.

Other interviewees included staff from NGOs and humanitarian agencies, United Nations officials and government officials.