GUINEA
Forgotten Children
of War: Sierra Leonean Refugee Children in Guinea
Sierra Leonean refugee children in Guinea
are among the most vulnerable children in the world. They have lived
through an extremely brutal war-most have witnessed or suffered unspeakable
atrocities including widespread killing, mutilation, and sexual abuse.
The human rights abuses that drove these children into flight are only
the first chapter of hardship for many Sierra Leoneans affected by
the crisis. Even after traveling across an international border to
seek refuge in Guinea, they remain vulnerable to hazardous labor
exploitation, physical abuse, denial of education, sexual violence
and exploitation, cross-border attacks, militarization of refugee camps,
and recruitment as child soldiers. Human Rights Watch visited Guinea
in February and March 1999. In the refugee camps, they interviewed
dozens of refugee teachers, social workers, and other community leaders
as well as forty-nine refugee children: thirty-three girls and sixteen
boys ranging in age from six to seventeen. This report relates the
testimony of these children, whose names have been changed to protect
their privacy.
(A1105), 7/99, 55 pp., $7.00
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