A new brief from the Sudanese National Human Rights Observatory accuses General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and allied militias of recruiting and deploying children in front-line roles, calling it fresh evidence of an “internal collapse” in the military chain of command.
According to the report, security organs and SAF-aligned groups have taken advantage of wartime hardship—family poverty, school closures and displacement—to enlist boys aged 13–17. Some were allegedly coerced; others were recruited under slogans like “defending the homeland” or for cash payments. Local testimonies cited in the brief describe recruitment drives in schools, summer camps and places of worship, paired with ideological messaging—including a term the report says is used to mobilize youths, “Barawoon”—to condition children before sending them to combat areas.
The Observatory says leaked videos circulating on social media show underage boys in uniform participating in operations, alongside survivor accounts indicating that children have been folded into units presented as “popular resistance.” The group argues the practice reflects shortages of trained personnel and a breakdown in discipline, while inflicting lifelong psychological and social harm on the boys involved and their communities.
The brief notes Sudan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. Under international humanitarian law, recruiting children under 15 to participate in hostilities is a war crime; additional instruments set 18 as the standard for any participation in fighting, and the Rome Statute criminalizes the conscription, enlistment or use in hostilities of children under 15. The Observatory urges urgent action by international bodies and rights groups to halt child recruitment and establish accountability mechanisms.
The organization concludes that using children as fighters cannot be justified under any circumstances and warns that normalizing such practices will leave Sudan with a traumatized generation and a more violent future.
