MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Almost half the minors recruited by armed groups in 2025 were approached via social media

The 124-page document, titled “I Thought I Would Never See My Mother Again,” draws on 184 interviews with officials, humanitarian workers, indigenous and community leaders and child protection staff

Some 44% of children and adolescents recruited by armed groups in Colombia during 2025 were approached through social media or platforms such as TikTok and Facebook, according to data from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace cited in a Human Rights Watch report published on Monday.

The 124-page document, titled “I Thought I Would Never See My Mother Again,” draws on 184 interviews with officials, humanitarian workers, indigenous and community leaders and child protection staff. The organisation analysed records held by the Ombudsman's Office and counted at least 1,500 minors recruited since 2021, with a marked rise from 2023: that year the office documented 342 cases, reaching 625 in 2024, an increase of 81%.

“Armed groups in Colombia are recruiting children with impunity, as protection systems fail and social media becomes a more effective recruitment tool,” said Juanita Goebertus, the organisation's Americas director.

The report states that over the past decade around 1% of recruitment complaints led to a criminal investigation and only 0.2% ended in a conviction, mostly of those who carried out the recruitment rather than those bearing greatest responsibility. More than half the cases are concentrated in Cauca department, and FARC dissident groups are behind the majority of complaints.

Between 2020 and 2025 those recruited were most often 15 or 16 years old, though more than 30% of cases involved minors aged between 10 and 14. Child protection officials told the organisation of cases involving children of nine or ten. Human Rights Watch notes that under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, recruiting children under 15 may constitute a war crime.

Indigenous children account for almost half of documented cases between 2021 and 2025, despite indigenous peoples making up around 4% of Colombia's population. The proportion of girls, averaging 40%, has risen since 2021. Once recruited, minors are usually moved far from their home areas to prevent escape and sever family ties. Boys are assigned to operating drones and to combat; girls are particularly exposed to sexual violence.

The organisation called on Abelardo de la Espriella's government to strengthen prevention policy, ensure adequate funding and reinforce institutional coordination and early warning systems. It also directed recommendations to Congress, the attorney general's office, the Ombudsman's Office, social media operators and the governments of the United States, Canada and European countries.