- Increase of 42 percent: The German Armed Forces are one of the armies with the most underage soldiers worldwide
- Numerous organizations are calling on Minister Pistorius in an open letter to stop the recruitment of underage boys and girls as soldiers and to halt Bundeswehr recruitment advertising to minors
In an open letter, 18 organizations and 6 umbrella organizations with over 230 member organizations from the fields of human rights, peace, the environment, churches, and trade unions, representing over half a million members, are calling on Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to raise the recruitment age for soldiers in the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) to 18 and to end Bundeswehr recruitment targeting minors. The minister could implement this immediately through an official directive.
“In 2025, the German Armed Forces recruited 3,131 boys and girls aged 17 as soldiers – a sad new record high and an increase of 42% compared to the previous year. One in eight newly recruited soldiers was a minor. This makes the German Armed Forces one of the armies with the most underage soldiers worldwide,” says Ralf Willinger of the children’s rights organization Terre des Hommes , spokesperson for the alliance “ Under 18 Never! No Minors in the German Armed Forces .” Only a few armies worldwide still recruit minors; over 150 countries adhere to the so-called “Straight 18” standard and recruit only adults as soldiers.
“The boys and girls recruited by the German Armed Forces come directly from school, where strict child protection rules apply. As minors, they are not allowed to drive cars or play computer shooting games,” Willinger stated. “However, as soldiers in the German Armed Forces, they then undergo rigorous military combat training with weapons alongside adults. They drive tanks and have to kill people virtually in exercises and combat simulators. Neither the Youth Protection Act, the Youth Employment Protection Act, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ILO Convention 182, nor other important protective regulations are observed. Every year, many of them become victims of sexual violence, suffer accidents, and develop mental health problems, as government statistics confirm. Among the victims of sexual violence at a German Armed Forces barracks in Zweibrücken, where investigations are currently underway against 55 soldiers, there was at least one underage female soldier.”
“Anyone who, like the German government, demands respect for soldiers must above all respect children’s rights and the rules for the protection of children and young people,” says Martina Schmerr of the GEW (Education and Science Workers' Union), spokesperson for “Under 18 Never ” initiative. “We, as an education union, strongly criticize the fact that more and more Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) soldiers, so-called youth officers and career advisors, are being sent to schools to influence students. Schools must be a safe space for learning, not a recruitment ground for soldiers. The Bundeswehr’s recruitment campaign in schools is also worrying and angering many parents, teachers, and students.”
Background: Child rights violations, international criticism and negative role model
Data from the Ministry of Defense shows that underage soldiers in the German Armed Forces are regularly victims of sexual violence (15 in 2023), accidents (35 in 2023), and mental illness. Germany is criticized for recruiting minors as soldiers by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and by many states, including the NATO member Sweden, in the UN Human Rights Council. The vast majority, over 150 countries worldwide (including 24 NATO countries), adhere to the UN's 18-year standard . The recruitment of those under 18 as soldiers is internationally condemned and is practiced by only a few countries. According to the UN definition in the Paris Principles, which Germany has also signed, child soldiers are all underage members of armies or armed groups, regardless of their function or role. Armies and armed groups in other countries that still recruit child soldiers justify this by pointing out that Germany does so as well – instead of strengthening the international condemnation of recruiting young people under 18 as soldiers, they undermine Germany and act as a negative example.
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