The recruitment of minors by illegal armed groups went up significantly in the first half of the year, reported Caracol Radio on Friday.
According to the radio station, a preliminary report by the Ombudsman’s Office said that 159 children and minors had been recruited between January and June.
This would be a major increase compared to last year when illegal armed groups recruited 147 children and minors.
The surge would be mainly caused by illegal armed groups in the southwestern Cauca province where 125 children and minors were allegedly recruited.
In its report on 2023, the Ombudsman’s Office registered the same number of child recruitments in Cauca in the entire year.
Half of the reported cases of child recruitment referred to children of ethnic minorities.
According to Caracol, the children are often recruited by other victims or by armed men threatening their parents.
Last year, groups formed by dissidents of the now-defunct guerrilla group FARC were responsible for 91% of the cases of child recruitment.
The FARC dissidents of EMC and Segunda Marquetalia were followed by guerrilla groups ELN, which allegedly was responsible for the recruitment of 13% of the children who had gone missing.
The recruitment is considered a war crime if the victims are younger than 15 years old, according to international law.