Brussels, 15/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - On 14 April, the Greek Presidency made, on behalf of the European Union, in conjunction with the United States, the following statement:
'The International Community has observed the growing and very disturbing practice of forced recruitment of refugees and other civilians to fuel the civil conflicts in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Many civilians have been forcibly recruited by some actors, involved in the conflicts in both Liberia and Côte d' Ivoire, to fight in these civil conflicts. The United States and the EU deplore the forced recruitment of refugees and other civilians to fuel these destructive, corrosive and senseless conflicts. The forced recruitment of civilians further complicates and exacerbates the unstable situation both in Liberia and in other conflicts in the region. Forced recruitment of refugees and other civilians compromises the neutrality, non-combatant status and security of entire communities of refugees and civilians. While many of the recruits may be young men, girls and women also find themselves pressed into servitude. We also note particularly and deplore both forced and voluntary recruitment of children into the conflict. Forced recruitment also increases the danger to humanitarian workers in the region, a danger that was made all too obvious with the recent killing of three employees of the Adventist Deployment and Relief Agency (ADRA), and of four Ivorian Red Cross volunteers. The United States and the EU lament these deaths and repudiate the targeting of humanitarian workers. Any governments and rebel factions, which use various types of coercion to recruit refugees and other civilians, including children, are acting in violation of international law.
The United States and the European Union: a) condemn those practices, b) call on those parties involved in force recruiting in Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire to immediately cease them, and c) underline the penal responsibilities that such actions entail for those responsible.
The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, the Associated Countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area align themselves with this declaration.'