New York, US - The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Friday called on the country’s military to ensure that all child soldiers within its ranks are demobilized after more than 50 teenage soldiers were let go earlier this week.

UNMISS, in a statement made available to PANA in New York, said that, 53 soldiers aged between 13 and 17 were sent home on Tuesday in Bentiu, the capital of South Sudan’s Unity state.

It stated: ``The children had been conscripted in April into the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the former rebel group that became the country’s military, but were demobilized this week by the South Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Commission'.

It quoted Ms. Hazel De Wet, the senior child protection officer for UNMISS, as welcoming the release of the child soldiers and commended the SPLA for its action.

``However, we still call upon the SPLA to ensure that all children within their ranks are released,” she said, adding that, ``children should be in schools and not military barracks'.

The statement noted that UNMISS, along with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and South Sudanese child welfare officials, have been advocating for the release of the child soldiers since their recruitment.

It also disclosed that UNICEF had given the soldiers blankets, mosquito nets, plastic sheets, soap and buckets to help them reintegrate into civilian life, while a non-governmental organization (NGO) has provided them with goats for rearing.

Pana 19/11/2011