Lankan envoy says end child recruitment

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As it becomes increasingly clear that the LTTE terrorist organisation continues to force children held hostage in the conflict zone onto the battlefield, the Ambassador for Sri Lanka to the United States, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, calls for the end to the manipulation and suffering of children. "It is alarming that the LTTE terrorists, are continuing their blatant pattern of recruiting children to serve their own political agendas.

It is an intolerable practice and must be stopped. We are hopeful this new campaign with UNICEF will help end the manipulation and suffering of Sri Lankan children," he said. The Ambassador's comments coincided with the launch of a new media campaign with UNICEF and the Government of Sri Lanka.

According to the UNICEF Web site, "Bring Back the Child" is a multimedia initiative directed towards armed groups, vulnerable communities and affected children.

It is made possible by the financial support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and UNICEF France. From 2003 to the end of 2008, UNICEF has recorded over 6,000 cases of children recruited by the LTTE. "The image of Sri Lanka, for far too long, has been stained by the presence of child soldiers in country. But, more important than erasing the stain in our image, is the need to save children from the horror of terror, the most savage of the chosen weapons of terror, that has been the menace of our society for nearly three decades", said President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the launch of the Sri Lanka National Campaign Against the Recruitment of Children for use in Armed Conflict.