Abduction

Abduction2019-04-22T16:39:20-04:00

The abduction of children during conflict is one of the six grave violations identified and condemned by the UN Security Council .  The six grave violations form the basis of the Council’s architecture to monitor, report and respond to abuses suffered by children in times of war. Ending and preventing these violations is also the focus of the Special Representative’s work and advocacy.

The abduction of children is a trigger to list parties to armed conflict in the annexes of the annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict.

In times of war, children are too often abducted by parties to conflict and subjected to brutal treatment. In many cases, the abduction of children is the precursor to other grave violations. Children can be abducted to be killed or maimed, to become victims of sexual violence or to be recruited to the ranks of an army or armed groups. In some instances, abducted children are detained arbitrarily by Governments or armed groups. Parties to conflict also abduct children in systematic campaigns of violence and reprisal against civilian populations.

In the 1990s and early 2000s in northern Uganda, the Lord’s Resistance Army notoriously used systematic abductions as its modus operandi to recruit children and commit sexual violence.

In recent years, Boko Haram and ISIL also used systematic abductions of children as methods of warfare. 

In March 2015, a boy holds his registration number following a ceremony formalizing his release from the South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) Cobra Faction, in Lekuangole village, in Jonglei State. UNICEF/UNI181538/McKeever

Mass abductions on the rise
Mass abductions of civilians, including children, have become an increasingly prevalent feature of conflict in many situations on the children and armed conflict agenda. 

Armed groups abduct children in greater numbers and use abductions as a tactic to terrorize or target particular ethnic groups or religious communities.

For example, the 2017 annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict details how, in Somalia, over 1,600 children were abducted by
Al-Shabaab, pointing to a sustained reliance on children for combat and support duties.

Click to read more about the 6 grave violations

Click to read more about the 6 grave violations

Greater needs to protect children
The increase in the frequency and scale of abductions has resulted in greater protection needs for boys and girls. The children require safe release, family tracing, medical, psychological and legal assistance as well as facilitation of voluntary repatriation in the context of cross-border abductions.

We are also concerned by the long-term consequences of abductions. Dominic Ongwen, of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), was transferred to the International Criminal Court in January 2015. Abducted by the LRA in 1989 on his way to school, Dominic Ongwen rose to the rank of major when he was 18 years old. His transfer to The Hague, 25 years after his abduction, is a reminder of the long-term consequences of such violations.

Abduction now a trigger for listing
In June 2015, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2225 to expand the tools available to child protection actors to gather information, report on and respond to the abduction of children by adding the violation as a trigger to list parties to conflict in the annexes of the annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict.

Read more:

Leila Zerrougui thanks Security Council for response to rising abductions after telling of “devastating year” for children in conflict zones

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon introduces SRSG Leila Zerrougui at Security Council stakeout, where she briefs media on her address before Council Members

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