美國(guó)英語(yǔ)聽(tīng)力80篇4 Lesson65
Passage 65 Child Soldiers
Representatives of governments and organizations from about twenty countries
met in Kathmandu Nepal recently
for a four-day conference on child soldiers.
The conference was organized by a group of international human rights
organizations called the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
At the end of their conference,the delegates called
for a worldwide ban on child soldiers.
Rory Mungoven was the chief planner of the meeting in Nepal.
Mister mungoven says children are fighting
in almost every current conflict in Asia.
He says Asia is second only to Africa
in its widespread use of child soldiers.
A recent Coalition report says children are being used
as soldiers in Afghanistan,Burma,Cambodia,SriLanka and other countries
Mister Mungoven says many rebel groups use children as fighters
Such groups include Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels and separatists
in the Philippines and Kashmir.
However,children do not only fight for rebel groups.
The report says child soldiers can be found in the Burmese
government's armed forces,for example.
And,several countries permit children in their late teenage years
to join the armed forces.
The Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers
says more than 300,000 children
are fighting in conflicts in more than thirty countries around the world.
Human Rights Watch is a member of the Coalition
to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.
The human rights group says the children who become soldiers are often poor
separated from their families,or living in a battle area.
They usually do not have much education or chance to get an education
Mister Mungoven says people seeking child soldiers
will put pressure on teachers,familie and community leaders.
The children also are promised food or security.
Other children are kidnapped and forced to serve as soldiers
Human Rights Watch says children in armed groups may become cooks
guards or spies.However,the group says children may also be forced
into situations that are more dangerous.
Sometimes children are placed into battle immediately.
They also may be used to explore minefields ahead of older troops.
And sometimes they are ordered to carry out military operations
that are sure to lead to their deaths.
