Colombia’s armed groups recruit children and train them in drone warfare, rights group says

Colombia's drug gangs and rebel groups are increasingly enlisting children for dangerous tasks, including flying drones armed with explosives, according to a Human Rights Watch report released on Monday. The international watchdog organization found that these criminal organizations often use social media platforms to recruit young children in rural areas where they profit from drug trafficking, extortion, and illegal mining.

Juanita Goebertus, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch, stated that "armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity" and that protection systems are failing. Since 2021, at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups in Colombia, with 625 cases reported in 2024 alone. This figure is reminiscent of 1999, when approximately 1,320 children were recruited during the height of the conflict between Colombian military forces and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Despite a 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC rebels that reduced violence and slowed child recruitment, the issue is resurfacing as smaller rebel groups and other criminal organizations vie for control of abandoned rural territories. Children are now being trained in drone warfare, with rebel groups often describing the training as a game rather than actual combat participation.

Human Rights Watch verified videos on social media showing children using explosives-laden drones and interviewed protection officers who work with children who have escaped or been demobilized from armed groups.

The report also revealed that armed groups conducted 121 drone attacks in the first five months of the current year, resulting in 21 deaths and 145 injuries. Social media platforms like Meta and TikTok have been accused of actively promoting content that glorifies life in rebel groups, encouraging children to join. While Meta and TikTok have taken down such accounts flagged by Human Rights Watch, the organization called on the government to allocate more resources to prosecuting recruiters of child soldiers and to work with social media platforms to establish reporting channels for child recruitment content.