Description
This paper examines the historical roots of child militarisation in Burundi, challenging the prevailing scholarly focus on the civil war (1993 – 2005) as the primary context for understanding child soldiering in the country. Drawing on archival research, oral historical interviews, and secondary sources, the study traces patterns of child involvement in armed conflict across three key episodes of post-colonial ethno-political violence: the 1965 ethnic massacres and government repression, the 1972 Hutu rebellion and subsequent genocide, and the civil war. The article argues that child militarisation in Burundi is driven by deeply embedded cultures of militarism and ethnicism transmitted to children and youth over decades. The greater visibility of child soldiers during the civil war reflected a shift from episodic massacres to protracted warfare rather than a novel phenomenon. The study further demonstrates that militarisation exists along a continuum, with resistance to child recruitment coexisting alongside its practice. By situating child soldiering within broader frameworks of politicisation, militarism, and labour, this research addresses a gap in the literature on child and youth militarisation in Burundi. The findings highlight the limitations of Disarmament, Demobilisation, and Reintegration programmes when fundamental societal, political, economic, and cultural factors remain unaddressed.