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| The UN says the Burmese army is still one of the world's most prolific recruiters of child soldiers and is also guilty of engaging in sexual violence against children. (Source: HRW) |
WASHINGTON — The United Nations released a “List of Shame” on Wednesday, detailing armed groups and governments around the world that still recruit children as soldiers and/or practice in sexual violence against children in the theater of conflict.
It was no surprise to anyone that the Burmese army still figures prominently on such a war crimes list.
But Burma's government forces were not the only culprit in the country, the UN said. Other armed groups were implicated: the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the Karen National Union-Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council, the Karenni army, the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), and the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
The Secretary-General’s 10th Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict noted, however, that the KNLA and the Karenni army have sought to conclude an action plan with the UN in line with relevant Security Council resolutions. The world body said it has been prevented from doing so by the Burmese government.
“2010 proved another tragic year for children in conflicts all over the world,” said Under-Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy. “We’ve taken no parties off the list and added four more—two in Yemen and two in Iraq,”
The report said the UN rued that there has been no progress on dialogue with non-state armed groups in Burma. In 2010, Naypyidaw again refused access to these groups, despite continued high-level advocacy from the UN task force.
Noting that Security Council Resolution 1612 underlines the primary role of states in providing effective protection and relief to all children affected by armed conflict, the report said that, to date, prevention and response activities provided by the Burmese government have involved the country's armed forces, commonly known as the Tatmadaw, but have not been recorded in other armed groups in Burma.
Furthermore, the protection of children in armed conflict has not been included in the comprehensive strategy to negotiate transformation of ceasefire groups to border guard forces or to resolve the conflict with the KNU/ KNLA, the Karenni National Progressive Party/ Karenni army or the Shan State Army-South, it said.
According to the UN report, children do not appear to be recruited in the Burmese army at the main recruitment centers, but that was not the case at other more remote or less rigorously monitored centers. The UN report alleged that the patterns of recruitment of underage children into the Burmese army did not alter significantly, and still included the recruitment of working and unaccompanied children from the streets, railway stations or other public places, although the majority of children were recruited from their homes or villages.
“Most cases of recruitment were of children between 15 to 17 years of age, and the majority were from Yangon division. Children continue to be persuaded or duped by relatives (working in the Tatmadaw), soldiers (to earn a promotion or other incentives) and other brokers to join the Tatmadaw,” it said.
“Credible reports indicate that, in addition to children who are officially recruited into the Tatmadaw, children are used by the Tatmadaw as porters, and as labour for road construction, kitchen work, farming, and aides-de-camp to high-ranking officers,” it said, adding that reports also confirm the recruitment and use of children by village militias known as pyi thu sit.
Burma's government is yet to draw up a plan to systematically identify and separate children being used by the Tatmadaw, and the discharge of children continued to be undertaken on an ad hoc basis as a response to complaints, it said.
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