Children's plight highlighted in southern Thailand

The United Nations Children's Fund has called for the establishment of a "zone of peace" in insurgency-plagued southern Thailand and stepped-up efforts to help the area's children.

UNICEF made the call in a 50-page study of the perceptions of children affected by the southern insurgency, which has claimed more than 3,300 lives since it flared in early 2004.

The attacks by Islamic separatists have generally taken the form of drive-by shootings and bombings intended to frighten Buddhist residents into leaving the predominantly Muslim area. The military has often been heavy-handed in responding with force.

The study showed that children suffered from anxiety, stress and restrictions in their daily lives. In addition to being traumatized by the deaths of adults close to them, about 30 children have been killed and 92 wounded in the conflict, the report said.

At least 400 youths have been detained in military camps and more than 3,000 families have had members detained, according to the Cross Cultural Foundation, a nonprofit agency that promotes cross-cultural understanding and human rights.

"I could feel the violence in me," said Sahadam Waeyusoh, a 16-year-old student from Pattani who lost his classmate in a drive-by shooting. "I felt angry. Why did someone have to do it to my friend? What had he done wrong to deserve it?"

Children's problems are often overlooked by people who think the conflict doesn't involve them, said Rawsedee Lertariyapongkul, an adviser to the Young Muslim Association of Thailand.

"When there are losses in family or community, people tend to help by offering donations," he told The Associated Press. "But that doesn't tell us at all about what children think."

The report's recommendations include setting up a war-free zone and the demilitarization of all armed groups.

Tomoo Hozumi, the UNICEF representative in Thailand, said that although it was challenging to create a zone of peace in the south, he was sure it is possible. One suggestion is that such zones could be set up around schools.

"At least all sides should come to a consensus that a day of tranquility might take place, like when health workers go for immunization for children in conflicted areas in Latin America," Hozumi said. He was referring to cease-fire agreements agreed to by governments and rebel groups to allow mass immunizations in areas of civil conflict.