Human Rights Watch says armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children and training some to fly explosive drones. The findings spotlight failing rural protections and the growing role of social media in child recruitment.

Children in Colombia are increasingly being recruited by drug gangs and rebel groups and are being made to carry out dangerous tasks, including flying drones fitted with explosives, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Monday.

The rights group said criminal organisations are using social media to draw in children as they try to tighten their control over rural areas where they earn money 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.”

According to Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office, at least 1,500 children have been recruited by armed groups since 2021, including 625 cases reported in 2024. A national truth commission had estimated that 1,320 children were recruited in 1999, when the conflict between Colombia’s military and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was at its peak.

A 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC reduced violence in many areas and slowed the recruitment of children. But Human Rights Watch said the trend is rising again as smaller rebel groups and other criminal organisations fight for control of rural areas left by FARC guerrillas after the peace deal, where law enforcement and social services remain weak.

For years, armed groups in Colombia have used children as messengers, for gathering intelligence, cooking and fighting, while girls are sometimes forced into sexual acts with commanders. The report said children are now also being trained in drone warfare, as rebel groups increasingly use drones carrying explosives to attack rival groups or strike police and army bases. Human Rights Watch said it verified videos posted on social media showing children using explosives-laden drones and also spoke to family protection officers working with children who had escaped from armed groups or had been 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. In a separate report published on Monday, Colombia’s Human Rights Defenders’ Office said armed groups carried out 121 drone attacks in the first five months of this year, killing 21 people and injuring 145.

Human Rights Watch said it identified dozens of social media accounts that “glorify” life in rebel groups, repeating a concern raised earlier by the United Nations. It said that in some cases, the algorithms of platforms such as Meta and TikTok “appear to have actively promoted” such content encouraging children to join rebel groups. Meta and TikTok told Human Rights Watch that they ban content promoting violence and had removed accounts flagged by the organisation.

The watchdog also said 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. Based on data analysed by Human Rights Watch, nearly half of all recruitment cases reported by Colombian authorities since 2021 involved Indigenous children, even though Indigenous people make up only 4 per cent of the population. The group also said girls accounted for 40 per cent of all recruited children.

Human Rights Watch urged the Colombian government to commit more resources to prosecuting members of armed groups who recruit children and to strengthen efforts to prevent recruitment in rural areas. There was no immediate response from the government. The organisation also asked social media platforms to create easier ways for users to report content linked to the recruitment of children and to preserve evidence that could be shared with prosecutors. Overall, the report said child recruitment in Colombia is rising again, with armed groups using both weak rural protections and online platforms to target children.

With PTI Inputs