What are the experiences of children from the Kosovan Conflict 1998-1999, can they transcend beyond the narrative of children solely as war Victims?

冲突中的儿童往往被仅仅视为受害者，他们作为积极参与者或战后建设者所发挥的作用往往被忽视。Maryanne Loughry认为，尽管儿童是“有影响力的”，但他们的记忆往往被忽视（Loughry，2008）。然而，如果重新回忆他们的记忆，这些孩子只会被认为是“无辜的儿童兵”（Mastey，2012年）。尽管此后一直有关于如何将这些儿童也视为战争罪犯的学术讨论。（Debarre，2015年），这些文献忽略了考虑预防，补救甚至是重新考虑儿童兵作为受害者或战争工具的倡议（Drumble，2012年）。同样，尽管学术界研究了叙利亚（Almohammad，2018），塞拉利昂（Zack-Williams，2001）和刚果冲突（Mlambo，2019）中的儿童犯罪现象，但他们未能利用整体方法来捕捉他们的经验范围（Wessells，2021）。当提到塞尔维亚冲突中的这一现象时，学者们倾向于关注波斯尼亚的情况，而忽视了科索沃（Constantine，2012）。对冲突中儿童的性别分析也相对较少，特别是与科索沃有关的分析（Achvarina和赖希，2001年）。一个重要的例外是Qëndresë Halili（2017），她的作品从一个孩子的角度讲述了她对巴瓦冲突的记忆。她的著作敦促人们改变传统的说法，即儿童只是武装冲突中的受害者。我提议的研究，从今以后，将调查1998-99年科索沃冲突中的儿童应该如何超越那些被谋杀的儿童的受害者身份（Haer，2019）。它还将关注那些在可怕的残酷行为中幸存下来的儿童，以及那些积极参与冲突和冲突后时期的儿童。正如Aisling Swaine和托马斯Feenyshow所言，儿童是战争的积极参与者，充当食物搬运者、儿童看护者和战斗人员（Swaine和Feeny，2004年）。这些儿童在重建科索沃的经济和政治基础设施方面也发挥了至关重要的作用，一代又一代的儿童在建立国家战争记忆方面发挥了巨大的影响力（Baliqi，2017）。这种冲突也对儿童的心理健康、他们随后采取的社会态度以及他们随后的生活质量产生至关重要的影响，尤其是在冲突结束后的几年里尤其是在冲突结束后的几年里（Boyden & de Berry，2004年）。最终，必须认识到，我忘记了儿童在科索沃冲突期间和之后所发挥的作用，冲突，如叙利亚和乌克兰目前的战争（Calam，Aala & Wadih，2002）。

Children within conflicts are often considered solely asvictims and the roles they play as active participants or aspost-war builders are often dismissed. Maryanne Loughryargues that despite the notion that children are 'influential'their memories are often neglected (Loughry,2008). If theirmemories are recounted, however, such children are onlyrecognised as 'innocent child soldiers' (Mastey, 2012).Although there have since been academic discussions upon3 / 16how such children should too be considered as warcriminals (Debarre, 2015), such literature neglects toconsider preventative, remedial and even restorativeinitiatives that reconsider child soldiers as more thanvictims or as tools of war (Drumble, 2012). Again, althoughthe academia examines the phenomenon of child soldierswithin the Syria (Almohammad, 2018), Sierra Leone (Zack-Williams, 2001), and Congo conflict (Mlambo, 2019), theyfail to utilise a holistic approach to capture the range oftheir experiences (Wessells, 2021). And when referring tothis phenomenon within the Yugoslavian conflict,academics have tended to focus on the Bosnian case, andneglect Kosovo (Constantine, 2012). There is also relativelylittle gendered analysis of children in conflict, especiallypertaining to Kosovo (Achvarina & Reich, 2001). Animportant exception is Qëndresë Halili (2017), whosewritings recount her memories from a child's perspective ofthe Kosovan Conflict. Her writings, urge a reconfiguration ofthe classic narrative that children are solely victims withinarmed conflicts. My proposed research, henceforth, willinvestigate how children caught up in the 1998-99 Kosovoconflict should be perceived beyond the victimhood ofthose children who were murdered (Haer, 2019). It willfocus also on those children who survived horrific acts ofcruelty and who actively participated in the conflict andpost-conflict period. As Aisling Swaine and Thomas Feenyshow, children were active participants within the war asacted as food bearers, child minders and as combatants(Swaine & Feeny, 2004). Such children also had a vital rolein rebuilding Kosovo's economy and political infrastructureand generations of children have been hugely influential inthe construction of the national war memory (Baliqi, 2017).Such conflicts also have a crucial effect upon a child'spsychological well-being, the societal attitudes that theythen adopt and the quality of life that they leadsubsequently, which is often dismissed especially in theyears after the conflict ends (Boyden & de Berry,2004).Ultimately, it is imperative to recognise the often-forgottenrole that children played during and after the conflict inKosovo to provide greater insight into the myriad role thatchildren have played in other conflicts such as in the Syrianand the current war in Ukraine (Calam, Aala & Wadih,2002).