Child soldiering in Rwanda: causes, recruitment, and long-term consequences

Child Soldering in Rwanda

Child Soldiering in Rwanda

In Rwanda, child soldiers have been used by different players as a part of reaching key objectives. To see the long-term consequences, requires examining the issue in detail and why it is occurring. This will be accomplished through studying the problem and how it is impacting the country. These factors will show the lasting effects on the region and the people who live within it.

In many regional conflicts, human trafficking has become an avenue for meeting the needs of the different sides. At the heart of this strategy, is recruiting child soldiers to conduct military operations. According to Human Rights watch, there are a total of 200 to 300 thousand who are recruited in achieving these objectives. This is problematic, as these tactics will destroy society and increase the perpetual cycle of violence. In the case of Rwanda, this is used to help provide the government and rebels with an increasing amount of personnel. (Strauss) To fully understand what is happening, there will be a focus on the main causes and effects through conducting a research study. Together, these elements will show how and why they are being used in Rwanda.

Statement of the Problem

There are tremendous amounts of uncertainty as to why children become child soldiers and the total numbers. This is because of confusion about the accuracy of the statistics and the underlying motivations of different players. The purpose of this study is to understand these factors, in order to create solutions to troubleshoot the root causes of the problem.

Research Questions of Hypothesis

The basic hypothesis is: children in Rwanda are forced to become soldiers to protect their families and from a lack of choices. These variables make them susceptible to different influences. To support these ideas a series of research questions will be examined. The most notable include:

Why they were utilized in the conflict?

What is recruitment process?

What are long-term consequences on Rwanda?

What actions are taken to prevent it?

Which organizations are trying to stop it?

What conflicts were the children used for?

These different elements will support the main ideas and offer insights about how this is influencing them. It is at this point, when the hypothesis can be supported or refuted based upon the ideas that were uncovered in the process.

Methods and Procedures

The study will concentrate on utilizing the qualitative approach. This is when various sources will be examined to understand the basic trends, how this is taking place and the lasting impacts. All information will be correlated to one another utilizing comparative analysis. This is when the various facts will be examined side by side to understand the primary and secondary trends. Anything that does not support them will be discarded as an anomaly. (Ragin)

Limitations

The shortcomings of the research is specific issues could be identified which are relevant to Rwanda. Yet, they may not apply to different parts of Africa or the world. This can cause the conclusions to be inaccurate from taking this kind of focus.