CHILD SOLDIERS

Motion Text

That this House welcomes Her Majesty's Government's commitment to ratifying the Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child regarding the age of recruitment and deployment of armed service personnel; recognises that those under the age of 18 years have a special status in terms of international humanitarian law; welcomes the work of the Department for International Development in addressing the international scandal of child soldiers; and, in the light of the present international tension, calls upon the Government to make a commitment that no members of the UK Armed Forces under the age of 18 years will be deployed to the Middle East.