Babies with explosive belts
Why Congo is the worst place to be a child
By Simone Schlindwein, Kampala
September 12, 2023, 5:30 p.m
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A few days ago there was shocking news from the Congo of two babies who had been fitted with explosive belts by terrorists. This is not an isolated case: In Congo, rebels are increasingly recruiting and kidnapping children in order to abuse them in their war. The violence is increasing more and more.
When Grant Leaity, the country representative of the UN children’s fund UNICEF in Congo, appeared in front of the cameras last week, he had a very serious face. He sounds the alarm: Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo “has reached unprecedented levels,” he says, summing up: “There is hardly a worse place, if any, to be a child.”
He reports on one of the worst cases documented by UNICEF in eastern Congo. Two small children, less than a year old, were found there with an explosive belt. The twins’ parents and the rest of the family had previously been massacred, Leaity said. The girls were found alone in a house, completely malnourished “and attached to an explosive belt.” The explosive trap was hidden under a blanket and clothes and was probably set up to kill those who tried to help the children. Fortunately, a UN anti-mine team was able to defuse the bomb.
The children are now housed in a safe reception center. They had “fully recovered” from malnutrition, but there remained concerns about the “psychological scars” they were likely to have suffered, he said.
Leaity did not provide any information about the exact time when this happened. The two girls were found in a village near the eastern Congolese trading town of Beni, according to Unicef. The rough terrain in the surrounding mountains is controlled by the Ugandan Islamist rebels of the ADF (United Democratic Forces). In recent years, the ADF has integrated itself into the Islamic State (IS) network in Africa and is increasingly adopting its violent methods such as suicide bombings and explosive traps. In neighboring Uganda, where the ADF actually comes from, five ADF explosive traps were successfully defused last week, one of which was placed in a church.
Militias recruit five-year-olds
The ADF has come under enormous pressure over the past year due to joint military operations by the Ugandan and Congolese armed forces. Since then, they have increasingly recruited and kidnapped children to use them for their war, as was probably the case with the two girls with the explosive belt. “Children are raped and killed every day. They are kidnapped, recruited and exploited by armed groups,” said Leaity.
According to Unicef, around 2.8 million children in the Congo are direct victims of the armed conflicts, especially in the east of the country. The UN annual report on the situation of children in armed conflict, published at the end of June, reported 3,377 confirmed serious violations against children in Congo. Almost half of them were recruited by militias, some as young as five years old, the report said.
In most areas occupied by rebels, people are on the run. More than 2,000 schools are closed, some have been looted by militias, others are home to displaced families who have no other shelter. They are dependent on aid because they cannot harvest. In addition to the devastating violence, around 1.2 million children under the age of five in the East are at risk of severe acute malnutrition, according to UNICEF. The country is also experiencing its worst cholera outbreak in more than five years, due to atrocious sanitary conditions in displaced camps. And measles is also spreading again. By the end of August this year alone, over 780,000 cases had been registered. Now the rainy season has begun. In the self-made tents in the camps, the children are now at risk of becoming ill due to moisture and hypothermia.
Schools are attacked by rebels
The situation is similarly dire in other war zones in Africa. The international children’s aid organization Save the Children is sounding the alarm that increasing violence in the Sahel states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger means that more and more children in these countries are unable to go to school. The number of primary schools closed due to attacks increased by 20 percent to a total of 7,800 in 2022, according to the NGO. As a result, around 1.4 million children were denied the right to education by June 2023, emphasizes Save the Children.
In areas controlled by militias in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, children and teachers are increasingly afraid of being in school buildings. The reason: Schools are targeted by armed groups. In addition, many children have been displaced and cannot go to school for this reason alone. Burkina Faso is most affected by the school closures with 5,318 schools, followed by Mali and Niger. “The armed violence in the Sahel is depriving children of their education and their future,” says Vishna Shah, regional director at Save the Children in West Africa. “The attacks on schools must stop immediately,” she demands.