South Sudan: Sinoyo's escape as a child soldier

South Sudan, 2017: Sinoyo¹ was nine years old when he was kidnapped by armed rebels. He was forced to fight as a child soldier for two years before managing to escape. Today, Sinoyo is 16 and wants to protect his homeland from violence. Terre des Hommes is supporting him in this endeavor.

“I was in fourth grade and had just come home from school when a few men picked me up at my house,” Sinoyo recalls. “They dragged me by force to their camp. I had ended up with the rebels. Anyone who disobeyed was beaten, tortured, or killed. I was ordered several times to go to the villages and threaten the people there.” 

South Sudan has been ravaged by armed conflict over power, money, and resources since its secession from Sudan in 2011. Nearly 400,000 people have been killed, and over four million have been displaced. Thousands of children, like Sinoyo, have been forced to fight in armed groups. A peace agreement was signed in 2018, but its implementation has been slow. Massive outbreaks of violence continue.

Sinoyo seizes the opportunity to escape when he and other youths are ordered to attack a village. Today, he lives with his older brother's family. Terre des Hommes partner organization, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), is helping Sinoyo process his horrific experiences and, despite his actions as a child soldier, to be reintegrated into his family and village community.²

“We received emotional support, but also blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets, soap, bedsheets and solar lights,” says Sinoyo. “This also helped my brother, who is very poor and has a large family to support, to accept me more readily.”

Since 2024, thanks to a scholarship, Sinoyo has been attending secondary school. There, he is involved in the Peace Club, where children and teenagers learn to resolve conflicts peacefully through dialogue. The sports and games program, with its fair-play rules, also contributes to respectful interaction. Today, Sinoyo has clear goals: He wants to expand his garden into a large farm to support his family. He wants to work and earn money to finance his living expenses and education. And he wants to study: "I want to become a doctor or a great leader who protects my community from the consequences of war."

¹ Name changed

² The project of partner JRS is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.