“I Can’t Let Them Down” : Sharad Sapra

Child Soldier Demobilization and their Reintegration in South Sudan

After 17 years of conflict, war was the only reality for people of South Sudan. Those of us involved in humanitarian work get so engrossed in the daily operations that we often do not have time to think and plan “What Can Be” for changing a given situation.

So everyone, including my bosses (except one, at that time as Director OLS, I had many bosses including UNICEF, WFP, OCHA, DPA) laughed at me when I first proposed the idea of Peace 2005 and child soldier demobilization as one tangible evidence of the desire and vision for peace. 

A multi-stakeholder Future Search Conference on Peace 2005 was organized which was attended by politicians, military commanders, teachers, health workers, diaspora, tribal leaders, children, women, representing different stakeholder groups. At the end of three days they presented an aligned and common vision of Peace 2005 and what it would look like.

One actionable agreement of the Peace 2005 Future Search was to get children out of the army. Commander Salva Kiir, then the Chief of Army Staff of SPLA, now the President of South Sudan, told Carol Bellamy “We will give you thousands” to which Carol replied, “We will take care of them”. That kicked off the largest Child Soldier Demobilization Exercise during an active conflict situation.

The responsibility for the demobilization exercise was entrusted to three young professionals Siddarth Chatterjee (base manager UNICEF Rumbek), Sikander Khan ( forwarding base manager at Lokichogio) and Ben Johnson, WFP base manager and Chief of Air Logistics for WFP.

The challenges were daunting. A major air lift in utmost secrecy had to be undertaken to move hundreds of children on the frontlines in remote areas. It had to be done within the next four weeks as there was a lull in the fighting while waiting for the grounds to sufficiently dry for the war to resume. The alternative was postponing the airlift when the fighting would be stopped after three months of war.

Although we were not fully ready for smooth and efficient operations, we recognized that the timing was critical. The dilemma we faced was the survival and safety of the young child soldiers fighting in the war, when it resumed. After a sleepless night and encouragement from my wife, I decided that our insufficient preparedness would not be an obstacle to our mission, arguing that the opportunity cost of the survival and safety of the children in the fighting was justification, in itself. We decided to start the airlift and firm up plans as we proceeded. Given the circumstances, it was extremely difficult but each and every child saved would be worth it.

Every step of operations had challenges. First, child soldiers had to be moved in trucks from the frontlines to places close to approved airstrips (we had to get approval of flights to various locations in South Sudan from Khartoum). Next, the restrictions placed on the WFP pilots meant smaller batches. They had

permission to fly only 32 people and could do only 2 to 3 sorties a day. We needed much more. We explained why their support was essential to our plans.

We asked the pilots to do a trial sortie. If they were not comfortable we would explore other options. After one sortie, the pilots were convinced. They obtained permission, on their own, to fly up to 70 children (sometimes even more) and did 6 to 7 sorties a day, sometimes with just headlights of vehicles lighting the airstrip. The pilots pushed us for quicker turnarounds and It seemed as though they had found a purpose for their lives.

On landing in Rumbek, the children were moved by trucks to 11 selected locations spread out over a vast area which were hidden from air surveillance by Khartoum’s military planes.

When the last flight with children touched the ground, Carol Bellamy announced at a press conference in Geneva, that 3,551 child soldiers had been moved out from the frontlines and were presently waiting in secure locations to be demobilized.

Soon thereafter all hell broke loose. It was the first large scale demobilization of child soldiers anywhere in the world. The unexpectedness of the news shocked the Government of Sudan, other UN agencies and NGO partners demanding explanations from UNICEF. Ironically, most partners expressed shock that it was against their “policy”. NGOs hired journalists to write bad reviews of the process, even foreshadowing that the rescued children would be left stranded and in peril.

But, in the midst of all this, Carol Bellamy’s brief call gave reassurance with her saying, “What you did is right and I am with you.”

UNICEF along with PTSD counsellors from Norway proceeded to establish camps and respond to the needs of the children. The children organized themselves very quickly, setting up their living accommodation, boundaries, cooking and bathing premises. UNICEF set up a clinic, water source, counseling room, food supply and playground in each camp. Treating the wounds and various illnesses of the former child soldiers was a priority. Then education and sports were added to their routine.

After a couple of months, their stony vacant gazes started to soften. The process of normalization had begun for most. Their childhood seemed to be returning and they were laughing, playing and dreaming of a future. Slowly they saw hope, aspirations and possibility for normalcy in their lives. In the camps, children received training as masons, carpenters, first aid workers, teacher assistants, skills that they would need to rebuild and reintegrate in their villages.

Concurrent with the demobilization, UNICEF staff along with SPLA and local chiefs were busy tracing the families of the children. Also, massive investments were made to rebuild the villages from where the children came so that they had jobs and the living conditions would be such that they would want to stay back on their return. Six months from the date they were airlifted, the children were ready to go back to their families. A detailed massive operation was put in place to transport the children by air, road, river and by walk to some remote villages. Each group of children was accompanied by a UNICEF staff member, who would keep a photograph as evidence, a signed and thumbed form as a record and evidence of return of the child to the family and the tribe.

By the end of the month all the children except 60 from the Blue Nile area, were reunited with their families. In one instance, a staff member walked 18 hours to take one child to a very remote village. When asked why he went to such lengths, he said, “I could not let him down”.

Looking back, the real heroes were Sid, Sikander and Ben, and UNICEF staff members who worked as a committed team regardless of their position in the office hierarchy, exemplifying the true spirit of Children First as UNICEFers. The UN Secretary General in his report to the General Assembly called it the best practice of the UN which reaffirmed the purpose of our mission.

But for me, sitting in a corner at the airstrip watching children rush to their parents whom they thought they would never see again, the tears of joy in the eyes of the mother after she hugged her long lost son, the attempt by the blind father who had last seen his son his knee height trying to bend down to pick him while his son stood next to him, taller than him, it was an emotional and fulfilling experience. I felt this is a life worth living and UNICEF has given me the opportunity to live it.