India has taken measures to protect children, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the UN
The United Nations (UN) has removed India from its annual list of countries where children are impacted by armed conflict, according to an article on its portal.
Virginia Gamba de Potgieter, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, unveiled the UN Secretary-General’s latest annual report for 2022 on June 27, 2023.
“In view of the measures taken by the Government to better protect children, India has been removed from the report in 2023,” the report, titled Children and armed conflict, read.
India was earlier included in the report based on allegations that separatist militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir were recruiting young boys. Additionally, there were also allegations that Indian security forces in Kashmir detained young boys, accusing them to be associated with militant groups.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that India had taken measures to protect children since the last report:
I call upon India to implement the remaining measures identified in consultation with my Special Representative and the United Nations, including the training of armed and security forces on child protection, the prohibition of the use of lethal and non-lethal force on children, including by ending the use of pellet guns, ensuring that children are detained as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, and to prevent all forms of ill-treatment in detention, and the full implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The report has noted that the highest number of violations were committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Israel, Palestine, Somalia, Syria, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
“The monitoring and verification of grave violations remained extremely challenging, including owing to access constraints leading to the underreporting of such violations and an increase in violations verified in 2022,” according to the report.
The countries where “the worst deterioration” occurred were Myanmar, South Sudan, and Burkina Faso.
There were 1,163 attacks on schools recorded, and 647 attacks on hospitals — a 112 per cent increase, the report said.
The widespread military use of schools both by armed forces and armed groups, is a “very worrisome trend”, said Gamba during the press conference in New York City where she released the report.
Nearly 2,500 children were detained, a practice that “should only be used as a last resort and for the shortest period”, she added.
Gamba also said two situations — in Haiti and Niger — are of growing concern to her office.
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India had been earlier included in the list on allegations that separatist groups and security forces were allegedly recruiting and detaining young boys respectively. Image from iStock for representative purpose only.png)
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