Sudan’s Stolen Childhood: Army Accused of Turning Kids Into Soldiers As Schools Burn

“The Sudanese army and its allied brigades recruited children in the armed conflict and thrust them into combat operations, in grave violations of children’s rights as well as international humanitarian law,” the Observatory said. It called for an independent and comprehensive investigation and for urgent accountability to stop the practice.

Clips of minors in military fatigues have spread quickly across social media. For many Sudanese, the images deepened fears that the war is escalating beyond control. The army, which is constitutionally meant to protect citizens, now faces mounting accusations.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has confirmed field executions of civilians. The US State Department has also accused Sudanese forces of using chemical weapons on at least two occasions during the current conflict.

Reporting by PM News on the Observatory’s findings has brought renewed attention to how quickly child recruitment has moved from the shadows into public view.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies published its own investigation into what it called ongoing violations against civilians. It highlighted abductions and forced recruitment of children as the most alarming trend. The Centre warned that the pattern threatens to push Sudan into deeper collapse, describing it as “a process of stealing children’s innocence.”

A generation locked out of school

Beyond the frontlines, millions of children are losing their future in classrooms.

The Geneva Global Centre for Education in Emergencies estimates that 19 million students missed the entire 2024–2025 school year. That is nearly every school-aged child in the country.

UNICEF says 17 million Sudanese children are unable to attend school right now. Of those, 7.9 million live near schools that have reopened but still stay home. Parents cite fear of air strikes, fear of recruitment at checkpoints, and the simple absence of safety.

According to data cited by PM News, ReliefWeb reported in January that Sudanese children had been out of school for more than 500 consecutive days. That makes Sudan’s disruption one of the longest in the world, longer even than the worst COVID-19 closures.

Save the Children put the number of children denied basic education at about 17 million. The group warned that without immediate intervention, an entire cohort risks growing up without literacy, skills, or protection.

In Khartoum, the crisis is visible. Most public schools are either closed or occupied. The army has used some as operational sites. Displaced families have turned others into shelters. Desks are gone. Blackboards are covered in aid tarps. Playgrounds are empty.

Education officials say the result will be catastrophic. With no safe spaces to learn, the likelihood that millions of children will never complete primary or secondary school is rising by the month.

Rights groups argue the two crises are connected. When schools close and poverty deepens, recruitment becomes easier. When children see no future in a classroom, the army and its allied militias offer food, pay, or simply survival.

The Observatory and other organizations are now demanding three things: an independent investigation into child recruitment, immediate demobilization of minors, and the return of schools to civilian use.

For now, Sudan’s children remain caught in the middle. They are too young for war, but old enough to carry its weight. They are too eager to learn, but have nowhere to go.

As one rights advocate told PM News, the war is not just taking lives. It is taking childhood itself.