UN say many parents still waiting for any nes from abducted children

IRIN, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, quoted UNICEF figures that LTTE has recruited more than 5700 children since 2001.

“Only 1,958 (of those forcibly recruited) have been released,” a statement issued on Friday by the IRIN said.

“People are afraid. Parents fear for themselves and the lives of their children,” Andy Brooks, chief of the child protection section of UNICEF in Sri Lanka said.

Missing son

The breakaway faction led by Vinayagamurthi Muralitharan alias Karuna is also accused of recruiting underage combatants.

“As of 31 May 2007, there were 198 outstanding cases of underage recruitment by the Karuna group, with only 60 released to date,” the statement said.

We are scared to sleep at night as we do not know when our children will be taken away Father in Jaffna

“For four years,R. Ganesh and his wife Lakshmi have held out hope that one day they would see their son safely return to his home in Trincomalee District”.

Their only child, Jeggan, then nine years old, was forcibly recruited in 2002 as a child soldier by the LTTE, according to the UN agency.

Sleepless nights

“They stuck guns to our foreheads and told us not to scream,” Lakshmi told IRIN.

“They blindfolded the three of us and told us that we had to fight for the Tamil struggle. They then took my son away and we have not seen him since.”

Jeggan's parents have lodged complaints with the UNICEF and the local police but yet to hear whether Jeggan is still alive.

They blindfolded the three of us and told us that we had to fight for the Tamil struggle. They then took my son away and we have not seen him since Missing Jeggan's parents

“Hundreds of other parents in the conflict-ridden northern and eastern districts of Sri Lanka continue to hope for the safe return of their children,” the IRIN statement said.

Both LTTE and the Karuna faction continue to forcibly recruit children from many eastern villages and Jaffna, UN says.

“We are scared to sleep at night as we do not know when our children will be taken away,” Jeyaraja Kandasamy from Jaffna, who has two teenage sons, told IRIN.