Children are frequently being kidnapped by the Jihadists in the Sahel region. They face the dual horrors of being targeted and killed, as well as being recruited and displaced from their homes.
“In Niger’s Tillabéri region, an entire generation is growing up surrounded by death and destruction. Armed groups have repeatedly attacked schools and food reserves and are targeting children for recruitment,” said Matt Wells, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Deputy Director, Thematic Issues. “The Nigerien government and its international partners must urgently take action to monitor and prevent further abuses and protect the basic rights of all those affected by this deadly conflict – especially children.”
A recent report by Amnesty International, titled “I Have Nothing Left Except Myself: The Worsening Impact on Children of Conflict in the Tillabéri Region of Niger,” highlights the impact jihadism has on children in the Sahel region of Africa.
“Since the start of 2021, the conflict in Niger’s western Tillabéri region, which borders Mali and Burkina Faso, has worsened significantly. Children have been killed, recruited to participate in hostilities, deprived of the opportunity to go to school, and forcibly displaced,” according to the report.
Niger’s western Tillabéri region lies within Africa’s Sahel, a belt of land immediately south of the Sahara Desert that stretches east-west across the continent. The region has received global attention due to the marked rise in extremism experienced over the past decade in what is now considered an epidemic of jihadism.