Latest news with #childsoldiers
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Echoes of Childhood Lost: ‘Allah Is Not Obliged' Brings Potent Animated Recollection of Liberian Wars
Between 1989 and 2003, more than 50,000 children were enlisted in the Liberian and Sierra Leonean civil wars. Lives were torn apart, a tragedy Ivorian author Ahmadou Kourouma used as material for his award-winning novel 'Allah Is Not Obliged,' short for the novel's leitmotif: 'Allah is not obliged to be just in all of his doings down here.' Zaven Najjar, visual artist, animator and artistic director on Sepideh Farsi's 'The Siren,' was struck by the powerful text, as was Special Touch Studios producer Sébastien Onomo. Together, they embarked on the difficult journey of translating this tale into animation, and now, their feature adaptation is screening at Annecy. More from Variety 'Not Just Participating, Designing the Future': Manga Productions's CEO Essam Bukhary on the Saudi Studio's MIFA Debut Steph Curry, Gabrielle Union, Caleb McLaughlin Lead A-List Voice Cast for Sony's Animated Feature 'GOAT' Marvel Animation Premieres First Episode of 'Eyes of Wakanda' at France's Annecy Animation Festival In the film, Birahima, a 10-year-old orphan from Guinea, ironically describes how he is thrown into tribal warfare while trying to reach his aunt in Liberia. Yacouba, a shady man, convinces him to become a child soldier, while he becomes a 'grigriman' and witch doctor among the fighters. Shunted between enemy factions, Birahima grows up quickly and learns to distrust the stories he's told. A project many years in the making, 'Allah Is Not Obliged' returns to Annecy after a captivating work-in-progress session last year. The Belgium-Canada-France-Luxembourg co-production is part of the fest's main competition and is sure to resonate with the festival audience. Variety spoke with Najjar during the final mixing sessions of the film, reflecting on the human and artistic journey behind the project. What compelled you to tell this story? Being from a family of Armenians from Syria and Lebanon, this story deeply resonated with ones I heard as a teenager, stories of the Lebanese war that were sometimes trivial things tinted with humor and irony, but also deeply tragic recollections intertwined with political and historical dimensions. That tone is present in Kourouma's novel, and Sébastien Onomo also felt a strong connection. I already knew him as a producer, having collaborated with Special Touch Studios on 'The Siren,' and I knew he dreamed of adapting this book, which he discovered during his literature studies. This connection, along with the fact that Sébastien, who is of Cameroonian origin, was already working in Africa, gave me an ecosystem in which I could imagine this project coming to life. How did you translate Kourouma's work into animation? Can you walk us through your adaptation process? For me, the only way I could move forward was by speaking with war veterans from Liberia. Sticking solely to the text felt insufficient. I wanted to conduct field research. I'm used to being very precise and thorough. One thing led to another, and contact after contact, I ended up meeting a former L.U.R.D. general (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy), one of the major armed forces during the wars. I thought I'd get only five minutes with him, but he gave me much more. He introduced me to other veterans and took me to locations mentioned in the novel. From there, I discovered Monrovia and met village chiefs, miners, witch doctors, people who truly helped me translate the narrative into animation. From the sketches I made during these trips, I drafted a storyboard. Some real locations are almost literally depicted in the film. Conversations with veterans also helped bring realism to settings such as camps, prisons, and villages, details that infused credibility into the story. Meeting Sébastien's professor at La Sorbonne, Tumba Shango Lokoho, helped me approach the text and strike the right balance and tone. Finding the actor who would voice Birahima was also key to achieving this balance. How did you meet Ivorian rapper SK07? It was very important to find a young actor to voice Birahima. With so much voice-over, we needed a strong personality and a great voice. SK, without any acting background, proved to be incredible, he literally blew my mind. Recording with him in Abidjan was an unforgettable experience. The entire cast deserves a shout-out. It was a pleasure working with them; they improvised dialogues and even entire scenes, breathing new life into the film and its narrative. You mentioned that 'Allah Is Not Obliged' was made between five animation studios. How did you build this pipeline, and why? For budget reasons, but it ended up being a fascinating experience. We succeeded thanks to wonderful teams and the amazing work of production director Nabine Mombo, who coordinated everything. She did an incredible job keeping our pipeline functional across all co-production partners. I could also count on Belgian animation director Olivier van Hoorebeke, whose expertise helped maintain visual coherence throughout the film. I aimed for a distinctive 'stepped animation' style, focusing on key poses while retaining fluidity. It allowed animators to concentrate on impactful visuals, and I'm very happy with the results. Can you elaborate on the music? It helps turn Birahima's tale into such a universal and powerful story. During production, I edited temp music and the dialogues myself. I had many ideas and wishes for the ideal soundtrack and worked with composer Thibault Kientz-Agyeman to refine the musical environments. We especially focused on the lullaby that opens the film. Thibault later worked heavily on the score, drawing from his own background, while I went to Abidjan to record dialogues. We also recorded songs there that he later incorporated into the film, bringing incredible energy to the project. Due to our limited budget, we had to make tough choices, but I'm glad we opened the film with music by Alpha Blondy and closed it with an original song by SK07, for which I'm eternally grateful. Blending those talents, moods and tones created something beautiful, offering yet another layer to Birahima's voice. 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Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Asylum seeker suspected of recruiting child soldiers can stay in Britain
An asylum seeker suspected of recruiting child soldiers for the Tamil Tigers has won a human rights case to stay in Britain. The Sri Lankan has been allowed to remain in the UK despite claims he had 'enlisted children under the age of 15' in the militant group. The French justice system previously ruled that he should be denied asylum in France due to the allegations, an immigration tribunal heard. However, British judges ruled that there was not enough evidence to say the allegations were true, and he has been granted refugee status. The Home Office, which attempted to deport him, tried to fight the ruling, but lost its appeal. The identity of the migrant has not been revealed as he was granted anonymity by the Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. The hearing, in London, was told that before he arrived in the UK, the Sri Lankan was alleged to have recruited child soldiers for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) - also known as the Tamil Tigers. The LTTE is a militant terrorist organisation founded in Sri Lanka. It was heard that the unnamed Sri Lankan was working for the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) - a refugee charity - but was secretly supplying information. Before arriving in the UK, the French asylum court - the Cour nationale du droit d'asile - found that he 'ought to be excluded from a grant of asylum under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention due to his alleged involvement in war crimes, in this case the alleged recruitment of children'. In Britain, the Home Office refused him refugee status, but in 2023, he won an appeal at the First-tier Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber against the decision. At the time, the judge found that the Home Office 'had not shown serious grounds for concluding that [the Sri Lankan] was guilty of the war crime of conscription or enlistment of children under the age of 15 or using them to participate actively in hostilities'. The judge at the 2023 hearing concluded: 'I am not satisfied even on the evidence of his own admissions, accurate or otherwise, to the French that this goes far enough to show that the [Sri Lankan] was effectively collecting information which he knew was going to be misused, and misused specifically for the recruitment of child soldiers under the age of 15. 'Nor am I satisfied that there are serious reasons for considering on all the evidence adduced that the [respondent] has been shown to have knowingly materially assisted in the recruitment of child soldiers under the age of 15, by the work done by the TRO in gathering information, possibly subsequently used by the LTTE for that purpose.' The Home Office appealed that decision at the Upper Tribunal, but lost its case. Home Office lawyers argued that the judge in 2023 did not attach enough weight to the French court decision. Lawyers argued that the judge 'ought to have followed the French Court and that inadequate reasons were given by the judge for not doing so'. But, Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge Adrian Seelhoff ruled that the 2023 hearing considered the French decision 'extensively'. Judge Seelhoff said: 'The Judge assessed that evidence to see if it supported the [Home Office's] case that [the Sri Lankan], whilst working for the TRO, supplied details which the LTTE used to recruit child soldiers. '[The Home Office's] position before us was not that the judge was bound to follow the French court decision, but that he had not given adequate reasons for reaching a different decision or that he failed to attach weight to the decision. 'We find that the judge did give adequate reasons for not following that decision, and for the weight he attached to it and that accordingly there is no error of law in the decision under appeal.'
Mail & Guardian
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Safeguard the rights and welfare of Africa's children
Children in Africa are exposed to violence such as armed conflict, with some children recruited as child soldiers. Photo: Stefanie Glinski/AFP The Children with disabilities, girls or those living in countries affected by humanitarian crises face an even greater risk of violence, including child marriages. As children grow into adolescence, they become more vulnerable to gender-based and intimate partner violence. The situation is even worse in conflict-affected areas, where children experience multiple human rights violations such as sexual slavery and genital mutilation. Armed conflicts not only endanger lives but also devastate In During armed conflicts, children are particularly vulnerable to being separated from or losing their parents or caregivers. Many become internally displaced or are forced to flee to other countries without adult guardians, an experience that significantly increases their risk of abuse. Living in conflict areas also exposes children to the threat of recruitment by armed groups — either as The African Union estimates that about The violence children experience during armed conflict can have profound and long-lasting effects well into adulthood. In my job as a trauma counsellor at the Although they had eventually escaped to South Africa, they described living in constant fear as they struggled to rebuild their lives. Some found themselves living in the same communities as other refugees whose families they had been forced to harm during the armed conflict. This made it nearly impossible for the former child soldiers to find peace or heal from their traumatic past. Target 16.2 of sustainable development goal 16 aims to 'end abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against, and torture of, children' by 2030. There are less than five years remaining to achieve this goal. Africa has several policy frameworks to address violence against children in armed conflict areas, including the But, as highlighted by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), one of the persistent difficulties in implementing the African Charter is the lack of adequate resources. Governments frequently prioritise investment in military resources and national security over issues that affect children. Effective implementation of frameworks such as the African Charter is vital to ensuring that children in Africa can meet key developmental milestones and realise their full potential. As we commemorate Africa Day on 25 May under the AU's 2025 theme, Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations, we must ask ourselves: how can reparations meaningfully address the needs of children who have been victims of violence in conflict areas? Reparations for these children must go beyond symbolic gestures. They should include financial compensation for injuries and disruption to education, access to trauma-informed mental healthcare and support for resettlement or reunification with family where possible. One way to ensure reparations for children affected by armed conflict is through intentional, child-focused planning and budgeting. This principle is at the heart of this year's Day of the African Child, which will be commemorated on 16 June under the theme Children are Africa's future leaders. Protecting them, especially during times of conflict, is not only a moral and legal obligation but a strategic investment in long-term peace, stability and prosperity on the continent. Governments must ensure that their budgets reflect a commitment to programmes that safeguard the rights and welfare of every child. Yeukai Chideya is a researcher at the Institute for Life Course Health Research at Stellenbosch University.
