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NGO warns against continuing use of child soldiers

    NAIROBI

    A Burundi child rights protection body, the Action for the Rehabilitation of Child Soldiers, has called for an immediate halt to the enlistment of children in Burundi's various fighting groups, a Burundi news agency, Net Press, reported on Monday. The organisation's lawyer, Edmond Munyuwisi, said the body had rescued and rehabilitated 183 of the 16,000 children serving with various forces in the country. He said "many other children" risked being press-ganged into the forces, especially those in combat zones such as Bujumbura-Rural Province in western Burundi, and those in areas bordering Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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