CHART EXERCISE.Where Child Soldiers Serve An estimated 300,000 persons under age 18 serve in the world's armies and militias. The chart at left shows, for 64 nations, whether they are involved in conflicts and the estimated number of soldiers under 18 active on their territory or in their military forces. The chart also lists the official minimum ages at which young people may either volunteer for, or be drafted into, those nations' armed forces. But beware be·ware v. be·wared, be·war·ing, be·wares v.tr. To be on guard against; be cautious of: "Beware the ides of March" Shakespeare. v. : In many countries, reality may differ from official policy. For example, officially reported minimum ages don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. reflect it, but an estimated 27 countries use children under t5 in their military forces. (*) Some U.K. troops under 18 are peacekeepers in Kosovo Kosovo or Kosovo-Metohija (kô`sôvô-mĕtô`khēä), Albanian Kosova, Serbo-Croatian Kosovo i Metohija and Kosmet, province (2002 est. pop. . (**) U.S. volunteers may serve at 16 with parents' written permission. 1. Refer to the map of the student edition. In which African country would you find the most child soldiers? 2. In which country is there a four-year gap between the official draft age and the age at which volunteers are accepted? 3. In February February: see month. , the world learned that 12-year-old twins, Johnny and Luther Htoo Johnny Htoo and Luther Htoo (born circa 1987) are twin brothers who jointly led the God's Army guerrilla group—a splinter group of Karen National Union in Myanmar (Burma) during the late 1990s. , headed a rebel group known as God's Army The name God's Army may refer to, inter alia, the following topics:
4. In which countries in the Americas A·mer·i·cas , the See America. may young people under 17 volunteer for military service? (Refer to map.) 5. The chart shows that there are child soldiers in some countries where the official draft or volunteer age is 18. What do you think accounts for the fact that young people below age 18 are performing military service in these countries? 6. Note that there are no official estimates of the numbers of child soldiers serving in most of the countries on the chart. Why do you believe that international human rights groups have been unable to provide accurate data on the numbers of child soldiers in so many countries? Source: Quaker Office, United Nations, Geneva Geneva, canton and city, Switzerland Geneva (jənē`və), Fr. Genève, canton (1990 pop. 373,019), 109 sq mi (282 sq km), SW Switzerland, surrounding the southwest tip of the Lake of Geneva. , Switzerland Switzerland (swĭt`sərlənd), Fr. Suisse, Ger. Schweiz, Ital. Svizzera, officially Swiss Confederation, federal republic (2005 est. pop. 7,489,000), 15,941 sq mi (41,287 sq km), central Europe. . Chart Exercise, TE 5 1. Sudan Sudan (s  dăn`), officially Republic of Sudan, republic (2005 est. pop. 40,187,000), 967,494 sq mi (2,505,813 sq km), NE Africa. . 2. Iraq Iraq or Irak (both: ēräk`, ĭrăk`), officially Republic of Iraq, republic (2005 est. pop. 26,075,000), 167,924 sq mi (434,924 sq km), SW Asia. . 3. Burma Burma: see Myanmar. (Myanmar Myanmar (myän`mär, mēän'mär`) or Burma (bûr`mə), officially Union of Myanmar, republic (2005 est. pop. 42,909,000), 261,789 sq mi (678,033 sq km), SE Asia. ). 4. Canada Canada (kăn`ədə), independent nation (2001 pop. 30,007,094), 3,851,787 sq mi (9,976,128 sq km), N North America. Canada occupies all of North America N of the United States (and E of Alaska) except for Greenland and the French islands of , Chile, Dominican
Republic Dominican Republic (dəmĭn`ĭkən), republic (2005 est. pop. 8,950,000), 18,700 sq mi (48,442 sq km), West Indies, on the eastern two thirds of the island of Hispaniola. The capital and largest city is Santo Domingo. , El Salvador El Salvador (ĕl sälväthōr`), officially Republic of El Salvador, republic (2005 est. pop. 6,705,000), 8,260 sq mi (21,393 sq km), Central America. , Mexico, Peru--and the U.S., if volunteers have
parental permission. 5. Governments may or may not adhere to adhere toverb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful 2. their military-service laws; rebel groups do not. 6. Governments and rebel groups refuse to provide information that could lead to criticism from other nations.
Child
Country Conflict Soldiers
Afghanistan Yes ?
Algeria Yes ?
Angola Yes 7,000
Australia No ?
Austria No ?
Bangladesh Yes ?
Bhutan No 700
Botswana No ?
Burma (Myanmar) Yes 56,000
Burundi Yes 8,000-10,000
Cambodia Yes ?
Canada No ?
Chile No ?
China No ?
Colombia Yes 9,000-20,000
Congo-Brazzaville Yes ?
Congo/Dem. Rep. Yes 6,000-20,000
Croatia No ?
Cuba No ?
Dominican Rep. No ?
El Salvador No ?
Ethiopia Yes ?
Finland No ?
Germany No ?
Greece No ?
Guinea-Bissau Yes ?
India Yes ?
Indonesia Yes ?
Iran Yes ?
Iraq Yes ?
Ireland No ?
Israel Yes ?
Italy No ?
Korea, North No ?
Korea, South No ?
Lebanon Yes ?
Libya No ?
Luxembourg No ?
Mauritania No ?
Mexico Yes ?
Nepal Yes ?
Netherlands No 140
New Zealand No ?
Nicaragua No ?
Norway No ?
Pakistan Yes ?
Paraguay No 21,000
Peru Yes 2,100
Philippines Yes 1,600?
Poland No ?
Russia Yes ?
Rwanda Yes 20,000
Sierra Leone Yes 5,000
Singapore No ?
Somalia Yes 1,000?
South Africa Yes ?
Sri Lanka Yes ?
Somalia Yes 1,000
Sudan Yes 25,000-32,000
Turkey Yes 3,000
Uganda Yes 8,000
United Kingdom No(*) 6,600
U.S.A. No 10,600
Yugoslavia No ?
Volunteer
Country Age Draft Age
Afghanistan 15-18
Algeria 19
Angola 17
Australia 17
Austria 17
Bangladesh 16
Bhutan 16
Botswana 17
Burma (Myanmar) 18
Burundi 15-16
Cambodia 18
Canada 16
Chile 16
China 17 17
Colombia 18 18
Congo-Brazzaville 18
Congo/Dem. Rep. 18
Croatia 16
Cuba 16
Dominican Rep. 16 18
El Salvador 16 18
Ethiopia 18
Finland 17 18
Germany 17 18
Greece 16 18
Guinea-Bissau 18
India 16
Indonesia 18
Iran 18
Iraq 15 19
Ireland 17
Israel 17 18
Italy 17 18
Korea, North 16 17
Korea, South 17 20
Lebanon 18 18
Libya 14-17 18
Luxembourg 17
Mauritania 16
Mexico 16 18
Nepal 15
Netherlands 16
New Zealand 17
Nicaragua 17
Norway 17 18
Pakistan 16
Paraguay 18 18
Peru 16 18
Philippines 18
Poland 17 18
Russia 18 18
Rwanda 15?
Sierra Leone 18
Singapore 16
Somalia
South Africa 17
Sri Lanka 18
Somalia
Sudan 16 18
Turkey 20
Uganda 18 18
United Kingdom 16
U.S.A. 17(**)
Yugoslavia 17
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