Barbados

Covers the period from April 2001 to March 2004.

Population: 269,000 (66,000 under 18)
Government armed forces: 610
Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
Voluntary recruitment age: 18; younger with parental consent
Voting age: 18
Optional Protocol: not signed
Other treaties ratified (see glossary): CRC, AP I and II, ICC, ILO 138, ILO 182

Under-18s may enlist with parental consent. No information was available on the number of under-18s, if any, in the armed forces. There was no conscription.

Government

National recruitment legislation and practice

The armed forces are responsible for maintaining national security and may be called upon to maintain public order in times of crisis, emergency or specific need. The police are responsible for law enforcement.1

There is no conscription. A volunteer may enlist at the minimum age of 18. However, the Defence Act provides for under-18s to enlist, providing they have the consent of a parent or guardian (Chapter 159, section 19).2 No information appeared to be available on the presence of under-18s in the security forces.

1 US Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003, February 2004, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/c1470.htm.

2 Initial report of Barbados to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/3/Add.45, 11 February 1997, http://www.ohchr.org.

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