– I am shocked with the information that at least 89 young school children have been kidnapped in Southern Sudan. They must be freed immediately and those behind this must be held responsible, said Børge Brende.
UNICEF fears the number could be much higher and reports that some of the boys are only 12-13 years old. Kidnappings was allegedly committed by an armed group near Malakal in northern South Sudan earlier this week.
– Children should be safe when they go to school. Use of child soldiers is a violation of international law. Both parties to the conflict have committed themselves to abolish the use of child soldiers, said the Foreign Minister.
Nearly two million southern Sudanese, 750 000 children, have been displaced because of armed conflict that broke out in December 2013. 400,000 children have lost the opportunity to go to school and according to UNICEF 12,000 children are used as child soldiers. Almost 6.5 million southern Sudanese are affected by humanitarian crisis because of this armed political fray.
