Child Soldiers Demobilized in Burundi

联合国协助布隆迪少年兵返回家乡

　



The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, says more than 200 child soldiers held by rebels have been demobilized following seven months of negotiations. UNICEF says the children, including one girl, were being held by a dissident group that broke with the rebel National Liberation Front. The FNL is still fighting a civil war with the Burundian government.

　

联合国儿童基金会说，经过七个月的谈判，被一个反政府组织控制的200多名少年兵被遣散。联合国儿童基金会说，这些少年中包括一名女孩，他们被一个从布隆迪反政府组织民族解放阵线分离出去的持不同意见的组织所扣押。民族解放阵线还在和布隆迪政府打内战。

The United Nations Children's Fund says 232 children between the ages of 15 and 20 had been held at the Randa and Burumata camps north of the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

　

联合国儿童基金会说，这232名年龄在15到20岁的青少年被扣押在布隆迪首都布琼布拉以北的朗达军营和布鲁马塔军营。

In a telephone interview from Bujumbura, UNICEF representative, Francoise Grullos, told VOA many of the children were as young as 10 when they were recruited by the FNL.

　

联合国儿童基金会的代表格鲁洛丝在布琼布拉接受美国之音电话采访时说，许多孩子在年仅10岁的时候就被民族解放阵线征为新兵。

She says the camps in which the former child soldiers were staying were in very poor condition and UNICEF considered it a matter of urgency to get the children released.

　

格鲁洛丝说，这些少年兵住的营地条件十分糟糕。联合国儿童基金会认为，必须尽快释放这些孩子。

"We had some concerns that these children in these two camps were in areas where the army and the FNL were still fighting and we feared about the security of these child soldiers in the camps," she said. "So, it was an additional element. And, I have to say that the government and the Commission, in particular, have been very instrumental in making sure that the dissidents agreed to release the children."

　

她说：“我们担心，这些孩子们住的营地就在政府军同民族解放阵线继续交战的地方，我们为这些孩子的安全感到担心。因此，这是另外一个因素。我必须说，布隆迪政府，特别是负责少年兵问题的委员会在确保那个持不同意见的组织同意释放这些孩子方面帮了很大的忙。”

The government established a Commission in 2004 to oversee the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers into civil society. Since then, Grullos says, more than 3,000 former child soldiers have been returned to their communities with a 94 percent success rate of reintegrating into society.

　

布隆迪政府在2004年成立了一个委员会，负责监督少年兵遣散和帮助他们重新融入社会的问题。格鲁洛丝说，从那时开始，已经有3000多名少年兵重返家乡，94%的人重新融入了社会。

She says negotiating the release of these children has been a very long, difficult, but, ultimately successful process.

　

她说，为释放这些青少年所进行的谈判十分漫长而艰难，不过最终还是成功了。

"You can imagine the happiness in the office here. We were very, very happy," she added. "It is like bringing children back to their childhood. It is releasing them from a camp where conditions are very bad and getting them back to a normal life."

　

她说：“你可以想像我们的快乐。我们非常非常高兴。这就像把孩子重新带回他们的童年。我们把他们从条件很差的兵营释放，让他们重新过上正常的生活。”

But, Grullos freely admits it is very difficult to get the children back to a normal life. She says the teenagers are suffering from a variety of illnesses, including malaria and skin diseases. She says many are severely traumatized by their brutalizing experiences and will require psychosocial counseling.

　

不过，格鲁洛丝坦率地承认，让这些青少年重返正常生活很困难。她说，这些十几岁的孩子患有各种疾病，包括疟疾和皮肤病。她说，以前的残酷经历给很多孩子留下了严重的创伤，需要心理辅导和社会辅导。

Grullos says the children have been taken to the town of Gitega, east of Bujumbura, where the process to reunite them with their families would begin. She says it takes about 18 months to reintegrate them into their communities. Although the process is long, she says it has been generally successful.

　

格鲁洛丝说，这些孩子已经被送到布琼布拉以东的基加特镇，并将在那里开始同家人团聚。她说，大约要花18个月的时间让他们重新融入社区。她说，虽然这个过程很漫长，但是通常都会成功。

UNICEF says there are still an estimated 1,000 child soldiers in Burundi and more continue to be recruited by rival armed factions.

　

联合国儿童基金会说，在布隆迪还有大约1000名少年兵，而敌对的武装派系还在招募更多的少年兵。