Más de un centenar de niños venezolanos sufrieron reclutamiento forzoso y violencia de grupos armados colombianos entre 2015 y 2025
Entre 2015 y 2025, más de un centenar de niños, niñas y adolescentes venezolanos han sido víctimas de reclutamiento forzoso
TL;DR
- Over 100 Venezuelan children and adolescents have been victims of forced recruitment, sexual violence, explosive devices, death threats, or orphaned by armed groups in Colombia between 2015 and 2025.
- An investigation documented at least 135 cases of minors recruited, with 90% being Venezuelan or dual-nationality children.
- FARC dissidents are the armed structure from which most of these minors have been rescued.
- Families affected are often single-mother households.
- Colombian armed groups subjected children to sexual violence, threats, family assassinations, disappearances, mutilations, and deaths.
- More than 40 criminal structures operate in territories with displaced families, especially in border areas like Cúcuta.
- Recruitment occurs in schools and through social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook.
- Rescued children fall under the tutelage of the Colombian State, potentially placed in foster homes if family is not found.
- Protection and reintegration programs primarily apply to those with dual nationality.
- Venezuelan children without dual nationality face double and triple revictimization, unable to access restorative justice or be recognized as victims of armed conflict, preventing registration with UARIV.