The Burmese military and armed ethnic insurgent groups are still using child soldiers, according to a human rights group.
Some child soldiers in the Burmese army are as young as 10 years old, the report said.
A report, “Sold to Be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma,” released on Wednesday by Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organization, says the military government is forcibly recruiting children.
“The brutality of Burma’s military government goes beyond its violent crackdown on peaceful protestors,” said Jo Becker, a children's rights advocate for Human Rights Watch. “Military recruiters are literally buying and selling children to fill the ranks of the Burmese armed forces."
The report said recruiters target children at train and bus stations, markets and other public places. Some are threaten with arrest when they refuse to join the army while others are beaten, the report said.
Ye Htut, the deputy director general of Burma's Information Ministry, told The Associated Press news agency that the report uses baseless accusations and lies created by ethnic insurgent groups.
The report said child soldiers receive about 18 weeks of military training and some are sent into combat situations within days of their deployment to military units. Some are forced to participate in human rights abuses—such as burning villages and using civilians for forced labor—and those who attempt to escape are beaten or imprisoned, the report said.
One child soldier in the Burmese army who escaped to the Karen National Liberation Army, the military wing of the Karen National Union, and was interviewed by The Irrawaddy in mid-2004 said child soldiers who were arrested after an escape attempt were imprisoned for as much as seven years. (See related link: http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_page.php?art_id=3796)
The human rights group said armed ethnic insurgency groups also use child soldiers but in smaller numbers. Two ethnic armed groups, the KNLA and Karenni National Progressive Party, are reducing the use of child soldiers, the report said.
In 2006, the KNU and KNPP said that they no longer recruited child soldiers and appealed to UN officials and other international organizations to remove their names from the lists of organizations that use child soldiers.
The report said ethnic ceasefire groups including the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, United Wa State Army and Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front continue to recruit child soldiers.
Thousands of children are included in the Burmese army’s ranks, the report said, although the number varies widely among different units. In some newly formed units, children reportedly constitute a large percentage of recruits.
In September 2006, Lt-Gen Thein Sein, who was recently appointed Prime Minister, ordered the army to recruit 7,000 soldiers per month, the report said.
In July 2007, Thein Sein met with the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy. He agreed to set up a special government post to work with the UN on the issue of using child soldiers and agreed to reduce the recruitment of children into the army.
Some child soldiers in the Burmese army are as young as 10 years old, the report said.
A report, “Sold to Be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma,” released on Wednesday by Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organization, says the military government is forcibly recruiting children.
“The brutality of Burma’s military government goes beyond its violent crackdown on peaceful protestors,” said Jo Becker, a children's rights advocate for Human Rights Watch. “Military recruiters are literally buying and selling children to fill the ranks of the Burmese armed forces."
The report said recruiters target children at train and bus stations, markets and other public places. Some are threaten with arrest when they refuse to join the army while others are beaten, the report said.
Ye Htut, the deputy director general of Burma's Information Ministry, told The Associated Press news agency that the report uses baseless accusations and lies created by ethnic insurgent groups.
The report said child soldiers receive about 18 weeks of military training and some are sent into combat situations within days of their deployment to military units. Some are forced to participate in human rights abuses—such as burning villages and using civilians for forced labor—and those who attempt to escape are beaten or imprisoned, the report said.
One child soldier in the Burmese army who escaped to the Karen National Liberation Army, the military wing of the Karen National Union, and was interviewed by The Irrawaddy in mid-2004 said child soldiers who were arrested after an escape attempt were imprisoned for as much as seven years. (See related link: http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_page.php?art_id=3796)
The human rights group said armed ethnic insurgency groups also use child soldiers but in smaller numbers. Two ethnic armed groups, the KNLA and Karenni National Progressive Party, are reducing the use of child soldiers, the report said.
In 2006, the KNU and KNPP said that they no longer recruited child soldiers and appealed to UN officials and other international organizations to remove their names from the lists of organizations that use child soldiers.
The report said ethnic ceasefire groups including the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, United Wa State Army and Karenni Nationalities People’s Liberation Front continue to recruit child soldiers.
Thousands of children are included in the Burmese army’s ranks, the report said, although the number varies widely among different units. In some newly formed units, children reportedly constitute a large percentage of recruits.
In September 2006, Lt-Gen Thein Sein, who was recently appointed Prime Minister, ordered the army to recruit 7,000 soldiers per month, the report said.
In July 2007, Thein Sein met with the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy. He agreed to set up a special government post to work with the UN on the issue of using child soldiers and agreed to reduce the recruitment of children into the army.
