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UNICEF estimates that around 250,000 child soldiers, some as young as eight, are currently involved in over 20 armed conflicts around the world. The British organisation War Child, says most underage soldiers are in Africa, and that 40 per cent of the 250,000 total are girls.<\/p>\n
It was not unusual for girls and young women to take an active part in the Bosnian conflict.<\/p>\n
Ramiza Variz from Sarajevo was younger than 16 when she and her older sister joined the BiH government army. She spent four years in the force, and was deployed to numerous front-line areas. She still bears a scar from a wound she suffered in 1993.<\/p>\n
![\"ramiza_variz\"](\"https:\/\/pro.ba\/app\/uploads\/2013\/11\/ramiza_variz.jpg\")
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\u201cI don\u2019t regret joining the army,\u201d she said. \u201cI only regret that I didn\u2019t have a normal childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Variz is now chair of the Association of Underage Soldiers of the BiH Federation.<\/p>\n
She joined the military, she says, because she feared for her own life and for her family members.<\/p>\n
Similar concerns prompted Nenad Bukvic to join the opposing Bosnian Serb army, VRS, in 1992.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt really important. I had a uniform and a rifle, although I was only 17,\u201d said Bukvic. \u201cI thought: \u2018They are attacking us, so we\u2019ve got to defend ourselves\u2019,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Today, Bukvic is disabled as a result of wounds he suffered during the war.<\/p>\n
Asked whether he would do the same again, he said he would, but he added that he would never allow his son to go through the horrors of war he experienced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have another homeland, and if I were forced to defend myself again, I would do that. But I wouldn\u2019t allow my child to do what I did. I wouldn\u2019t want any child in the world to experience what I did during the war,\u201d Bukvic said.<\/p>\n
ENDURING TRAUMA, NEGLECT An Amnesty International report on children in armed forces around the world published in February notes that as well as missing out on childhood and schooling, child soldiers are exposed to dangers that will cause physical and mental trauma.<\/p>\n Nedzad Hodzic, from the central town of Travnik was only 15 when he joined the Bosnian government army in 1992. In August that year, he was badly wounded.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very young \u2013 too young \u2013 when all that happened; the war and my injury. That\u2019s something no one should go through, least of all a child,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hodzic\u2019s memories will always be overshadowed by the day his was shot.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I joined the army, I was assigned to delivering food to the trenches by horse. On August 12, on my way up to the trenches, a sniper shot me in the head. I spent seven or eight days in a coma. That wasn\u2019t the only trauma I suffered in the war, but it was certainly the biggest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Branko Matosin, who heads the association of Bosnian Croats who served as young volunteers, says life is tough for most of the former child soldiers from the war. Most are unemployed, and they get little outside help in trying to come to terms with their experiences.<\/p>\n \u201cMany members of our association are in various healthcare institutions, mostly psychiatric, and no one wants to help them,\u201d said Matosin, who was himself a child soldier with Bosnian Croat forces. \u201cSociety not only downplays our involvement in the Bosnian war, but it persistently neglects us, as if to cover up the fact that children, too, fought in the war.\u201d<\/p>\n Both of BiH\u2019s administrative entities, the Federation and Republika Srpska, have legislation covering the rights of former combatants. These laws do not make separate provision for those who were minors at the time, as they do not recognise them as a separate category. Such individuals are entitled to the same rights as other war veterans. For example, they have the right to free healthcare, orthopaedic devices for the disabled, and preferential treatment when applying for jobs and housing.<\/p>\n Former child soldiers say that in practice their rights are often disregarded, particularly when it comes to employment and healthcare.<\/p>\n Geko will soon get his master\u2019s degree in security studies, but he says he cannot find work.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m educated and yet I can\u2019t find a job that I\u2019m qualified for, even though I am supposed to get priority over other applicants who didn\u2019t fight in the war,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that\u2019s only on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n The associations that represent Bosnia\u2019s one-time child soldiers believe changes in legislation could give them more recognition and improve their lives.<\/p>\n Like so many others, Kemal Salaka, who heads an association of former child soldiers in Sarajevo canton, joined up as a minor because he feared for his life. Although he does not regret doing so, he is unhappy that people like him get no formal recognition as a special category.<\/p>\n \u201cThe state treats us as equal to demobilised soldiers. Child soldiers who joined the army voluntarily are treated the same as conscripted soldiers. We don\u2019t think that\u2019s fair. This is why we want the law to recognise us as a separate category,\u201d Salaka said.<\/p>\n At the moment, certain categories of war veteran \u2013 including those who were decorated in the war and those left disabled \u2013 are entitled to a monthly payment as reimbursement for the time they spent at war. Former Bosnian Serb soldiers get this payment from the government of Republika Srpska, and those who served in the Bosnian government or Croat forces receive it from the Federation authorities.<\/p>\n Officials at the Federation\u2019s ministry for war veterans told IWPR it was currently impossible to make the legislative changes that former child soldiers were seeking, but they were trying to find a satisfactory solution for this category of ex-soldiers. The equivalent ministry in Republika Srpska did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the matter.<\/p>\n Geko says that although he is disappointed with the way Bosnian society treats former child soldiers, he would not have changed the decision he made at 17 back in 1992.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough society ignores us, I am still proud of every second I spent in the army. I would do the same thing again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This article was produced as part of <\/i>Tales of Transitio<\/i><\/b>n project funded by the Norwegian Embassy in Sarajevo. SCCA\/pro.ba is carrying out this project in co-operation with the IWPR and EFM Student Radio.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exploited in war, ignored in peace, former combatants who served as minors in three warring armies want recognition more than anything else.<\/p>\n By Aida Mia Alic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,59,57,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-projects","category-reports","category-tales-of-transition","category-tales-of-transition-2013"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"nedzad_hodzic\"](\"https:\/\/pro.ba\/app\/uploads\/2013\/11\/nedzad_hodzic.jpg\")
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