Fantasy world

Myanmar has long been accused of recruiting and using child soldiers even in combat zones. Repeated appeals by the United Nations and humanitarian organizations the world over has failed to put a stop to this practice.


SECRETIVE AND hidden from most of the world, Myanmar, dubbed a pariah state by the west, has one of the largest armies in Southeast Asia and as if to complement that, its army or the Tatmadaw as it is called, has the largest number of child soldiers in the world. Despite the United Nations and international condemnation the military junta continues to recruit child soldiers without batting an eyelid.

The military junta recruits and uses soldiers, who are under the age of 18, says the Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report. The idea behind recruiting child soldiers is simple – to expand the army to keep the entire country under subjugation.

The report called ‘So to Be Soldiers’ says after recruiting under age children they are sent for 18 weeks of military training. Worse some are sent to combat zones following the training.

Despite repeated appeals by many humanitarian organizations the world over and United Nations agencies, the practice is not only continuing but child soldiers are sometimes forcibly used to perpetrate human rights abuses on the people of the country, such as burning villages and using civilians for forced labour, the HRW says adding that those who attempt to run away or try to desert are beaten up and brought back or jailed. Desertion is high in the Myanmar Army and two child soldiers deserted and fled to Bangladesh just the other day. Desertion also means execution.

Recruitment of children is not confined to the Burmese Army for child soldiers can still be found in the barracks of the ethnic armed rebel groups some of whom are fighting the junta and some who have a ceasefire agreement with it. But most of them deny the accusation.

The HRW believes there are between 100 and 150 soldiers in one Myanmar Army battalion which is below par, for a normal battalion has between 600 and 800 troops. Child soldiers are used so, to boost the numbers.

The Myanmar Army has an estimated strength of 400,000 soldiers and among them, 20 percent are under the age of 18, according to HRW.

The junta or the State Peace and Development Council as it calls itself, however, vehemently denies using child soldiers in its army.

The denial was published some time ago in the state run media the New Light of Myanmar and The Mirror.

"The Tatmadaw has been recruiting new members in accordance with the law, rules and regulations," said the newspapers quoting the chairman of the Committee for Prevention of Recruiting Child Soldiers into the Army, Secretary-1 of the SPDC, Lt-Gen Thein Sein following a meeting.

The junta on the other hand accused the opposition both inside the country and in exile of trying to taint its image. The junta has pointed out that it has been cooperating with the United Nations agencies to prove that the accusation is false.

The Southeast Asia Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (SEACSUCS), however, sees the junta’s setting up of the Committee for the Prevention of Recruiting Child Soldiers as a ploy to deceive the international community on the issue by projecting an image that it respects human rights and humanitarian law.

In June, Radhika Coomaraswamy, Under Secretary General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict visited Myanmar to set up the UN task force on children and armed conflict and to discuss modalities of monitoring and reporting mechanism with the junta.