Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoría del Pueblo) says illegal armed groups recruited an average of one child per day between 2024 and June 30 of this year, with 1,173 documented cases. The agency warns that even this troubling figure likely understates the real scope of the crisis, citing fear among families, the normalization of recruitment in some regions, and limited awareness of how to report cases.
The human cost has been stark in recent weeks. Six recruited minors were killed this month in government airstrikes ordered by President Abelardo De La Espriella against the ELN guerrilla group and rival dissident factions led by figures known as ‘Calarcá’ and ‘Mordisco.’ Two other children were rescued from one of the camps.
According to the Fundación Ideas para la Paz, a Colombian peace research group, armed group membership has surged 90 percent since December 2022, reaching nearly 28,800 fighters and support-network members by July of this year—a rise the organization partly links to the government’s “Total Peace” negotiation strategy.
Children are often lured through social media campaigns or taken by force. Between January and July alone, authorities logged 97 recruitment cases, about 40 percent involving girls, with Indigenous children disproportionately affected. In June, fighting between rival factions in the Guaviare region left 11 minors dead, underscoring how young recruits are dying not only in military operations but in battles between armed groups themselves.
Read the full investigation at El Tiempo.
Source: El drama de los niños y las niñas usados como escudos humanos por los ilegales (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: US Army Africa, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).