Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the reported abduction of South Sudanese school children, while sitting their exams in Malakal; and what estimate they have made of the number of children who have been co-opted into militias in South Sudan.

Both the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Mission in South Sudan have confirmed that over 15/16 February 2015 a number of school children were abducted near Malakal in Upper Nile State. While there are no accurate figures, data from the school registers suggest at least 89 boys were abducted. According to UNICEF some 12,000 children are reported as being used by armed forces and other affiliated militia groups.