Rights groups call on the UK government to end armed forces recruitment of children
Twenty major children’s and human rights organisations have written to the UK government today, calling for an end to the recruitment of children by the UK armed forces.
Twenty major children’s and human rights organisations have written to the UK government today, calling for an end to the recruitment of children by the UK armed forces.
The letter asks the Secretary of State for Defence to use the Armed Forces Bill, which is being debated in Parliament on Wednesday, to raise the minimum enlistment age to 18 in law.
The press release is available here.
A copy of the joint letter, with references, is available here.
You can find more information about CRIN’s work on military enlistment, including resources on this issue, here.
Joint letter calling on the UK government to end armed forces recruitment of children
22 June 2021
Dear Secretary of State,
We write to call for an end to the military enlistment of children aged under 18.
Whereas most states worldwide now allow only adults to be recruited into their armed forces, the British army still recruits more soldiers at 16 than any other age, particularly for basic infantry roles.
The army argues that it provides underprivileged teenagers with a route out of unemployment, but since four-fifths of disadvantaged teenagers now continue in school or college from age 16, their enlistment typically brings their full-time education to an early end.
Those who do enlist at 16 undergo the intense and prolonged stress of military training, which has drawn complaints of ill-treatment from recruits and their parents. During this time, nearly one in three underage recruits leaves the army or is dismissed. This means that every year, several hundred young people, having left education early to join up, find themselves immediately out of a job and out of education.
Those who remain in the army are legally obligated from the day they turn 18 to serve for four further years, as part of the binding commitment they made when they were legally children. This extended minimum service period is up to two years longer than that required of adult recruits, and is just one of several sweeping obligations of enlistment that could not lawfully be imposed on a civilian worker of any age.
We appreciate that many young people are attracted to military life, but the evidence now clearly shows that recruiting from age 16 draws them into the armed forces prematurely. The risks and legal obligations involved are unambiguously incompatible with their rights and welfare. By age 18, young people have had the fullest opportunity to enhance their academic or vocational qualifications before beginning an armed forces career should they choose one.
Calls are now widespread for the enlistment age to rise to 18. Among those advocating the change are the UK’s four Children’s Commissioners and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, as well as health professionals and trades unions. Three-quarters of the public agree; only a fifth think the army should be recruiting 16-year-olds.
It can be done; just a small increase in adult recruitment would facilitate transition to all-adult armed forces. This simple step forward would set the same standard in the UK that it has asked of armed forces and groups around the world, and help to bring a global ban on the military use of children into view.
We ask you to review the strong evidence that favours this change and use the passage of this year's Armed Forces Bill to write it into law.
Yours sincerely,
Sacha Deshmukh, interim Director, Amnesty International UK
Veronica Yates, Director, Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
Kathy Evans, CEO, Children England
Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland
Ellen Finlay, Policy Officer, Children in Northern Ireland
Amy Woodhouse, Joint Interim Chief Executive, Children in Scotland
Owen Evans, CEO, Children in Wales
Sally Holland, Children's Commissioner for Wales
Paddy Kelly, Director, Children's Law Centre
Louise King, Director, Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), part of Just for Kids Law
Mark Russell, CEO, The Children's Society
Jo Becker, Children's Rights Advocacy Director, Human Rights Watch
Sam Grant, Head of Policy and Campaigns, Liberty
Sophie Neuburg, Executive Director, Medact
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries, National Education Union
Koulla Yiasouma, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People
Tricia Young, CEO, Terre des hommes UK
Juliet Harris, Director, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights)
Sean O’Neill, Chair (acting), Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group
Rob Williams, CEO, War Child
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