300 boys aged 11 to 17 were freed from David Yau Yau’s Cobra Faction in Pibor town Tuesday.
The demobilization was the second event aimed at returning former child soldiers to their families and enrolling them in school.
Two weeks ago, 249 boys were released from the Cobra faction in Gumuruk village in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area.
2000-3000 children will be released in the program, according to the Okulu Andrew Holt, Coordinator of the Child Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration program in the National DDR Commission, depending on how many underage fighters are found as the Cobra Faction integrates into the SPLA.
At the Tuesday demobilization, the boys turned in their weapons at a ceremony overseen by officials from the National DDR Commission, the SPLA, the Cobra Faction, religious groups, and UNICEF.
In a speech to the children before they left the Cobra Faction, Andrew said: “Today the day the 10th of February, do not forget it, because we are going to take away the gun, we are going to take away the uniform. When the gun is taken away from your hand, don’t take the gun again. The gun is evil. When the uniform is taken, don’t take it again. These clothes make you to die.”
A Cobra military official told the boys to not resort again to violence: “If you want to beat someone it is only through the pen. Use your knowledge.” That military leader pointed out that his own son was among the young fighters.
Greater Pibor Adminstrative Area deputy administrator Apee Ojulu Ochudho said: “I want you to continue to be Cobra soldiers, but in civilian clothes, not in army clothes. You go to school and continue that vision.”
After the demobilization ceremony, one of the liberated boys, aged 17, told Radio Tamazuj: “Army is not good to me, but now I am still young. I like school.”
“I don’t like again fighting again guns like last year,” he continued. “We have to be in peace…I like to learn so our country will grow.”
The children will live in a care center run by UNICEF where they will be fed and taught until they are returned to their families. They will be monitored for the next two years as they reintegrate to civilian life.
“For every child released, it’s the chance for a new life,” said UNICEF South Sudan Representative Jonathan Veitch in a press statement. “We are witnessing the negative consequences that being in an armed group has had on the boys; some are withdrawn while others exhibit violent and aggressive behavior. Instead of playing, they march up and down.”
“To avoid the risk of re-recruitment and to ensure that each child can fulfill their potential, they need a protective environment where they not only receive food and water, but also counseling, life skills and the opportunity to go back to school,” he added.
Yau Yau’s Cobra faction signed a peace deal with the Juba government last year after waging an armed rebellion since 2012.
Related:
3000 child soldiers to be freed from Daivd Yau Yau (28 Jan.)
Radio Tamazuj Photo: Child soldiers wait to be freed from David Yau Yau’s Cobra Faction on 10 February 2015 in Pibor.