Armed groups in Colombia are increasingly recruiting children and assigning them dangerous roles, including operating drones fitted with explosives, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Monday. The rights organisation said drug gangs, rebel groups and other criminal organisations are using social media to target children as they seek greater control over rural areas.

The recruitment is taking place amid weak law enforcement and social services in areas where armed groups compete for revenue from drug trafficking, extortion and illegal mining. Human Rights Watch said Colombia’s child protection systems were failing to prevent the renewed recruitment of minors.

Child Recruitment Rises After Years Of Decline

Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said armed groups were recruiting children without facing sufficient consequences.

“Armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity,” Goebertus said. “Protection systems are failing, and social media platforms have become a more effective recruiting ground.”

Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office estimates that at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, including 625 cases recorded in 2024.

The figures mark a reversal from the decline in child recruitment that followed the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. A national truth commission had estimated that 1,320 children were recruited in 1999, when the conflict between the military and FARC was at its peak.

Human Rights Watch said recruitment has increased again as smaller rebel factions and criminal organisations compete for territories vacated by FARC fighters after the peace deal.

Children Used In Drone Warfare

Armed groups have historically used children for tasks including carrying messages, gathering intelligence, cooking and fighting. Girls have also sometimes been subjected to sexual exploitation by commanders, according to the report.

Human Rights Watch said children are now increasingly being trained to operate drones carrying explosives. Rebel groups have used such drones to attack rival organisations as well as police and military positions.

The organisation said it verified social media videos showing children operating drones equipped with explosives. It also interviewed family protection officers who work with children who escaped from armed groups or were allowed to demobilise.

“Released children who report having operated drones say that armed groups describe the activity as a game rather than as participation in armed fighting,” the report said.

A separate report published on Monday by Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office said armed groups carried out 121 drone attacks during the first five months of this year. The attacks killed 21 people and injured 145.

Social Media Used To Recruit Children

Human Rights Watch said it identified dozens of social media accounts that glorify life in rebel groups and encourage children to join them. The organisation said similar concerns had previously been raised by the United Nations.

In some cases, the algorithms used by platforms including Meta and TikTok “appear to have actively promoted” content that encouraged children to join armed groups, the rights organisation said.

Meta and TikTok told Human Rights Watch that their policies prohibit content promoting violence and that they had removed accounts flagged by the organisation.

Indigenous Children Disproportionately Affected

Human Rights Watch identified a FARC holdout group led by a commander known as Ivan Mordisco as being involved in most cases of child recruitment. The group is particularly active in Colombia’s Cauca region, according to the report.

Data analysed by Human Rights Watch showed that nearly half of all child recruitment cases reported by Colombian authorities since 2021 involved Indigenous children, despite Indigenous people accounting for about 4 per cent of Colombia’s population.

Girls represented 40 per cent of all recruited children, the organisation said.

Human Rights Watch called on the Colombian government to increase resources for prosecuting members of armed groups involved in recruiting children and strengthen preventive measures in rural communities. There was no immediate response from the government.

The organisation also urged social media companies to make it easier for users to report content associated with child recruitment and preserve evidence that could assist prosecutors.

The report concluded that child recruitment in Colombia is again increasing as armed groups exploit weak protections in rural areas alongside social media platforms to reach and target children.

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