Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Oman
| Publisher | Child Soldiers International |
| Publication Date | 2001 |
| Cite as | Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Oman, 2001, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/498805da28.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
SULTANATE OF OMAN
Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.
- Population:
– total: 2,460,0001400
– under-18s: 1,260,0001401 - Government armed forces:
– active: 43,500
– paramilitary: 4,900 - Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
- Voluntary recruitment age: 18
- Voting age (government elections): unknown
- Child soldiers: none indicated
- CRC-OP-CAC: not signed
- Other treaties ratified: CRC; GC/API+II
- There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces.
GOVERNMENT
National Recruitment Legislation and Practice
Article 14 of the Constitution states that "No organisation or group is allowed to establish military or paramilitary forces. The Law regulates military services, general or partial mobilisation and the rights, duties and disciplinary rules of the armed forces, the public security organisations and any other forces the state decides to establish."1402 Conscription has not existed in Oman since its independence in 1970.1403 Voluntary recruits are accepted between the ages of 18 and 30.
In the past, Oman used to have trouble recruiting for its armed forces and up to ten per cent of its soldiers were foreign.1404 After Oman's independence in 1970, nearly all army officers and men were Baluchis from Pakistan, except for senior commanders, who were British. Oman formerly governed parts of the Baluchistan coast and when the territory was passed to Pakistan after independence there was an agreement that Oman would continue to recruit people from this area to its armed forces. As of early 1993, most officers were Omanis although British involvement continued, especially in the armoured regiment. The Ministry of Information's annual report in 1999 claims that there is "stiff competition" to join the armed forces and that the Royal Oman Police had achieved over 98 per cent "Omanisation".1405 There are no military schools for children under 18. To join the army in Oman completion of secondary education is required.
1400 Ministry of National Economy, Statistical Yearbook, Sultanate of Oman, 8/00, p.46. 596,000 of this figure are expatriates.
1401 UNICEF figures, Oman government figures indicate there are 1,071,059 persons under 19, of which 72,902 are expatriates; Ministry of National Economy, Statistical Yearbook, Sultanate of Oman, 8/00.
1402 www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/mu00000.
1403 Helen Chapin Metz, op. cit.; Brett and McCallin op. cit.
1404 Ibid.
1405 Ministry of Information, Oman 99, p.69 and p.80.
