Child soldiers in Burma

Within the last week, I wrote about Ishmael Beah's recent appearance at the University at Buffalo. Beah, a former child soldier, discussed his experiences and his rehabilitation.

Afterwards, due to how intriguing the issue is, I was interested in finding out where in the world are child soldiers fighting, whether for their government or for an opposition force.

Human Rights Watch assembled a list of 33 countries where child soldiers are known to be used. For the sake of this argument and discussion, here is that list again.

G indicates children are serving in government forces
P in paramilitaries, and
O in opposition forces.

Colombia (P,O)
Mexico (P,O)
Peru (O)
Russian Fed (O)
Turkey (O)
Yugoslavia (P,O)
Algeria (P,O)
Angola (G,O)
Burundi (G,O)
Chad, (G)
Repub of Congo, (G,O)
DRC (G,O)
Eritrea (G)
Ethiopia (G)
Rwanda (G,O)
Sierra Leone (all groups)
Somalia (all groups)
Sudan (G,P,O)
Uganda (G,O)
Afghanistan (all groups)
Iran (G,O)
Iraq (G,O)
Israel and OT (G,O)
Lebanon (O)
India (P,O)
Indonesia (P,O)
Myanmar (G,O)
Nepal (O)
Pakistan (O)
Philippines (O)
Solomon Islands (O)
Papua New Guniea (O)
Sri Lanka (O)
East Timor (P,O)
Tajikistan (O)
Uzbekistan (O)

If you notice, Burma (Myanmar) is on this list as having child soldiers in government forces and in opposition forces.

We all know about the news coming out of Burma. The country has been ruled by a military junta to this day and it is suppressing the people there. And if you stand up and protest against this junta, it can lead to beatings and even your own demise.

But the fact that child soldiers are being used in Burma has become a hot topic, at least in the international media, within the last few days. One article in the International Herald Tribune reads, Child soldiers bought and sold in Myanmar, report says. How chilling.

The article mentions a recent Human Rights Watch report regarding child soldiers in Burma. The press release summing up the report states:

Burmese military recruiters target children in order to meet unrelenting demands for new recruits due to continued army expansion, high desertion rates and a lack of willing volunteers. Non-state armed groups, including ethnic-based insurgent groups, also recruit and use child soldiers, though in far smaller numbers.

“The brutality of Burma’s military government goes beyond its violent crackdown on peaceful protestors,” said Jo Becker, 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.”

Based on an investigation in Burma, Thailand and China, the 135-page report, “Sold to Be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma,” found that military recruiters and civilian brokers receive cash payments and other incentives for each new recruit, even if the recruit clearly violates minimum age or health standards.

One boy told Human Rights Watch that he was forcibly recruited at age 11, despite being only 1.3 meters tall (4’3”) and weighing less than 31 kilograms (70 pounds). Officers at recruitment centers routinely falsify enlistment records to list children as 18, the minimum legal age for recruitment.

Recruiters target children at train and bus stations, markets and other public places, and often threaten them with arrest if they refuse to join the army. Some children are beaten until they agree to “volunteer.”

“The government’s senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of children and fail to punish perpetrators,” said Becker. “In this environment, army recruiters traffic children at will.”

Child soldiers typically receive 18 weeks of military training. Some are sent into combat situations within days of their deployment to battalions. Child soldiers are sometimes forced to participate in human rights abuses, such as burning villages and using civilians for forced labor. Those who attempt to escape or desert are beaten, forcibly re-recruited or imprisoned.

Imagine being 11 again. I remember being 11 and being slightly taller and weighing just a bit more than the child described in this article. I definitely wasn't ready for combat then.

But the generals and military officials get away with this. They falsify records to show that these children are 18 when they (obviously) aren't. The government in Burma responded to these allegations:

Rejecting the allegations Ye Htut, deputy director-general of Myanmar's information ministry, said the allegations were "another example of biased reporting" by the New York-based rights group.

In an email response to the Associated Press, he said Myanmar's armed forces have had regulations since 1973 forbidding forced inscription and the recruitment of minors.

Ye Htut said: "If the authorities find out that a recruit was recruited against his will or he is under 18 years, the responsible personnel will be tried according to the military law."

And thus, welcome to the situation in Burma. The government will no doubt blame the West for "biased" views on the country and its conditions, including this issue surrounding child soldiers. The government tries to portray itself as following the rules when obviously the country has no rules --- except the rules imposed on the people to remain silent and let the military rule the country.

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