Colombia’s Armed Groups Recruit Children for Drone Warfare, Rights Group Warns

A new report by Human Rights Watch has shed light on the alarming trend of armed groups in Colombia recruiting children for dangerous tasks, including piloting explosives-laden drones.

According to the report, drug gangs and rebel groups in Colombia are increasingly using social media to recruit children for potentially lethal tasks. The groups often use social media platforms to assert control over rural areas where they profit from the drug trade, extortion, and illegal mining.

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

Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office has reported that at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, with 625 cases reported in 2024. This number is a stark reminder of the ongoing issue of child recruitment in Colombia, which has been a concern for years.

In 1999, during the peak of the conflict between Colombia’s military and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), an estimated 1,320 children were recruited into the fighting, according to a report by a national truth commission. A 2016 peace deal between Colombia’s government and the FARC rebels reduced violence in many parts of the country and slowed the recruitment of children by armed groups.

However, child recruitment is picking up again as smaller rebel groups and other criminal organizations fight over control of rural areas abandoned by FARC guerrillas following the peace deal. Law enforcement and social services continue to be weak in these areas, making it easier for armed groups to recruit children.

Human Rights Watch has verified videos published on social media that show children using explosives-laden drones. The organization has also interviewed family protection officers who work with children who have escaped from armed groups or have been allowed to demobilize. “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.

Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ office has reported that armed groups conducted 121 attacks with drones in the first five months of this year, in which 21 people were killed and 145 were injured. Human Rights Watch has identified dozens of social media accounts that “glorify” life in rebel groups, echoing a concern previously voiced by the United Nations.

The watchdog group has also said that the algorithms of platforms like Meta and TikTok “appear to have actively promoted” such content that encourages children to join rebel groups. Meta and TikTok have replied to Human Rights Watch saying they prohibit content that promotes violence, and that they had taken down accounts flagged by the organization.

A FARC holdout group led by a commander known as Ivan Mordisco is involved in most cases of child recruitment and is recruiting heavily in Colombia’s Cauca region. Nearly half of all recruiting cases reported by Colombian authorities since 2021 involved Indigenous children, despite Indigenous people making up just 4% of the population. The watchdog group also said that girls made up 40% of all recruited children.

Human Rights Watch has called on the Colombian government to devote more resources to prosecuting members of armed groups who recruit children, while stepping up efforts to prevent recruitment in rural areas. There was no immediate government response to the report.

The organization has also called on social media platforms to establish channels where users can easily report content that’s related to the recruitment of children, and preserve evidence that can be made available to prosecutors.