The government of the Central African Republic (CAR) reported on Monday that some 10,000 children remain under the control of militant groups, who use them as soldiers, spies, servants, and sex slaves.
The CAR has been at war with itself for over a decade. The government was overthrown in a string of coups dating back to its establishment as an independent republic in 1960, one of which was backed by former colonial power France in the late 1970s to get rid of a particularly odious dictator.
Coup Number Five took place in March 2013 when President Francois Bozize, who came to power in Coup Number Four a decade earlier, was overthrown by a coalition of Muslim militant groups calling itself the Seleka (“alliance” in the Sango language). The Seleka conquered the northern and central CAR by force before seizing the national capital of Bangui and installing its leader Michel Djotodia as president.
The brutal Seleka were soon opposed by a coalition of Christian militias calling themselves the “anti-balaka.” Balaka means “machete” in Sango, so these fighters were essentially declaring themselves “invincible.” Many of them wore charms that supposedly protected their skin from being pierced by blades. The name anti-balaka can also be interpreted as a promise to protect villagers against being carved to pieces by machete-wielding Seleka militants.
The anti-balaka did not just battle against armed Seleka fighters; they also conducted brutal revenge attacks against Muslim civilians, and the Seleka struck back in kind. The seemingly endless conflict has resulted in thousands of deaths since 2013, plus 500,000 internally displaced people and 750,000 refugees in neighboring Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Seleka alliance, which was fractious from the beginning, has also turned against itself with violent internal squabbles and power struggles, frustrating efforts by the CAR government to work out a lasting peace agreement.
Militia violence led to lawlessness and predatory gangs, which made the work of U.N. peacekeepers and humanitarian agencies extremely difficult. Both Seleka and anti-balaka forces have strongly resisted government and U.N. efforts to disarm them. Over 175 of the 18,000 U.N. troops dispatched to the CAR have been killed since the MINUSCA peacekeeping mission began in 2014.
As if all that was not bad enough, mercenaries from Russia’s notorious Wagner Group have been active in the CAR since 2018, when the government ostensibly brought them in as military trainers. Russian forces working for the government have been accused of committing summary executions and abusing civilians.
A peace deal was reportedly reached between the CAR government and fourteen of the militia groups in 2019, but fighting has never stopped and the government says all parties are still using child soldiers.
The Associated Press (AP) on Monday spoke to some former child soldiers who have since left the militias and become peace ambassadors:
“I took up arms because Seleka killed by mother and father,” said Arsene, who insisted on only his first name due to the sensitivity of the situation. He said a Christian rebel group recruited him when he was 14. After three years of fighting, he now tells young people not to join rebel groups.
Ousmane, another former child soldier, said that joining the rebels ruined his life and that of those around him. “What we did is indescribable,” he said.
The CAR’s Minister for Family and Gender Marthe Kirima said about 15,000 children have escaped from rebel forces, but 10,000 still remain in their clutches. The U.N. has established training programs to help escaped child soldiers reintegrate into society.
The group currently attracting the most concern for abusing child soldiers is Patriots for Change (CPC), which includes both former Seleka and anti-balaka fighters. CPC was formed after former President Bozize tried to make a political comeback in the 2020 elections, but was disqualified from running.
The CPC attacked Bangui after incumbent President Faustin Archange Touadera declared victory in his re-election campaign with about 53% of the vote. The rebels renewed their attacks at the beginning of 2023.