recruitment age
Campaigners and churches back Armed Forces Bill amendments on recruiting children into the armed forces
13/06/2011ForcesWatch press release
Organisations and churches who have questioned the recruitment of under 18s into the armed forces are backing an amendment which could see children no longer able to enlist and bring the UK into line with international standards.
Teenage soldiers given right to discharge
10/06/2011The Friend
Quakers have been central to a campaign that resulted in a change to government policy last week, as a minister announced that teenage soldiers will be given the right to discharge at any time before turning eighteen.
Under-18s discharge rules to change
10/06/2011Defence Management
The Ministry of Defence is set to make it easier for personnel under the age of 18 to leave the armed forces, it has been announced.
‘MoD unfairly imprisons teenagers’
10/06/2011Defence Management
Teenage soldiers have been unfairly detained in military prisons due to a failure from the MoD to effectively implemenent discharge policies, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers has said.
Campaigners welcome new right to leave the armed forces for under-18s
19/05/2011ForcesWatch press release
ForcesWatch press release
The government has today promised to give teenage soldiers the right to leave the armed forces up until age 18 if they are unhappy. ForcesWatch and other NGOs have been campaigning on this and other issues relating to under-18s in the armed forces as the Arned Forces Bill does through parliament.
Catch 16-22: Recruitment and retention of minors in the British Armed Forces
March 2011
This report, published by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, "challenges the status quo currently surrounding the situation of young people in the UK armed forces today. It questions the ethics and legality of the restrictions on young recruits’ rights of discharge, their minimum period of service, and their exposure to the risk of hostilities. The report also makes the case for a considered review and debate on the minimum recruitment age. It highlights the evidence that not only is the experience of recruits in the 16 – 18 age bracket adversely affected by their relative lack of maturity, but that their high drop-out rate results in millions of pounds in wasted expenditure."
Child soldiers ‘jailed’ for going AWOL despite MoD policy
26/03/2011Channel 4 News
Channel 4 News
Campaigners are lobbying the Government to either raise the minimum age of recruitment from 16 to 18 or to make absolute the right of a young recruit to leave training. Several groups told Channel 4 News that the incarceration of minors in a de facto military prison is "immoral", flouts UN convention and contradicts MoD policy.
Armed forces report reveals MPs’ confusion over recruitment of under-18s
18/03/2011ForcesWatch press release
ForcesWatch press release
The report by the House of Commons Committee on the Armed Forces Bill has rejected proposals to raise the minimum age of recruitment to 18. But ForcesWatch, an NGO that submitted evidence to the Committee, suggests that the wording of the report reveals a lack of clarity over the law in this area, even among MPs and senior military personnel.
‘Boy soldiers’ artwork shown outside Parliament
04/03/2011BBC online
A three-dimensional art installation depicting child soldiers is being displayed outside the Houses of Parliament as part of a peace campaign.
Should the armed forces recruit 16-year-olds?
01/02/2011defencemanagement.com
Rachel Taylor, from the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, argues that it is time for British armed forces to join the rest of NATO and stop recruiting people as young as 16.