The United States on Thursday added Pakistan and Turkey to its Child Soldiers Prevention Act (CSPA) list, a designation that could lead to strict sanctions on military assistance and listed countries’ participation in peacekeeping programs, reporter Dawn.
The designation is included in the US State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, which ranks countries in various tiers in accordance with their efforts for eliminating trafficking.
The US Child Soldiers Prevention Act requires publication in the annual TIP report of a list of foreign governments that have recruited or used child soldiers during the previous year (April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021).
The entities reviewed for this designation include armed forces, police, other security forces, and government-supported armed groups.
