UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- More than 200 children recruited to serve with militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been released by the fighters and are being returned to their families, an official for the U.N. children's agency said Saturday.
Obtained after negotiations persuading fighters to stop drafting children into their force, the release was the first time this year that a militia group has voluntarily handed over children from its ranks, according to a UNICEF official.
Humanitarian and international governmental agencies deplore the recruitment and abduction of children by armed groups looking to fill the ranks of their fighting force.
In this instance, 232 children, some as young as 13, had been recruited to fight alongside Mayi Mayi forces on Congo's volatile eastern border with Uganda and Rwanda, the official said.
The children, who belonged to three Mayi Mayi brigades, were handed over to child protection specialists after UNICEF and the children's charity Save the Children negotiated their release with the militias.
According to Pernille Ironside, a child protection specialist for UNICEF, all the children released were volunteers most likely encouraged by their families to join the Mayi Mayi, a pro-government militia operating in eastern Congo.
The first group of 182 children was separated this month from a Mayi Mayi brigade in the North Kivu town of Beni. The brigade arrived voluntarily at a center set up to integrate militia fighters into the national army, Ironside told CNN.
The release was only secured after intensive discussion to persuade the militias to stop drafting children into their armies, Ironside said.
"The Mayi Mayi has ambitions to be part of the Congolese army," she told CNN by phone from the east Congolese town of Goma. "We explained to them this was only feasible if they gave up using children."
Among those recently released were nine girls.
Ironside said it was difficult to persuade the rebels to give up girl combatants, who she said were often kept as sex slaves by the militia leaders.
Although the civil war in Congo officially ended in 2003, recent fighting in eastern Congo between government forces and rebels has caused tens of thousands to flee their homes.
Since 2004, around 29,000 children have been demobilized and separated from armed groups in Congo, according to the United Nations. However, Ironside said this is the first time this year that a militia group has voluntarily handed over children from its ranks.
联合国儿童基金会的一位官员星期六说，刚果民主共和国军队已释放所招募的200多名童子军，这批童子军将被遣送回家。
这位官员称，这是说服他们停止招募儿童的谈判以来，武装分子今年首次主动释放童子军。
人道主义者和国际政府组织谴责招募和诱导儿童加入军事力量组织。
这名官员称，这次，有232名儿童，有的年仅13岁，参军并且同蚂蚁军一起在刚果同乌干达和卢旺达的东部边境进行武装战斗。
联合国儿童基金会和儿童慈善救赎机构同民兵进行谈判后，三个蚂蚁军团把所招募的童子军移交给了儿童保护专家们。
联合国儿童基金会儿童保护专家皮奈尔?爱恩赛德说，这些被释放的儿童很可能是受家人鼓动自愿加入蚂蚁军的。蚂蚁军是刚果东部的一个反政府军队。
爱恩赛德告诉CNN的记者说，本月，百尼北部一个镇的一蚂蚁军团首次释放182名儿童。他们主动来到一个专门为民兵同国民军混合的中心区。
爱恩赛德还说，经过激烈的谈判，才说服民兵停止招募童子军，获得这次释放。
在刚果东部城市格玛她通过电话告诉CNN记者说：“蚂蚁军野心勃勃，希望成为刚果军的一部分。我们向他们解释说只有停止招募童子军，他们才有机会。”
在最近释放的童子军中有九名女孩儿。
爱恩赛德还说说服叛军释放女军是很困难的事情，这些女孩儿通常都是叛军头子的性奴。
尽管官方早在2003年就宣布刚果内战结束，但是最近政府军和叛军在刚果东部所进行的战争已迫使成千上万人逃离家园。
根据联合国的统计，自从2004年以来，大约有29.000名儿童已退伍，同刚果武装组织脱离。但是，爱恩赛德说这是武装分子今年首次主动释放童子军。
