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NEWS STORY
 October 31, 2007 Child soldiers as young as 10 are serving in the Burmese military's depleted ranks, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Wednesday, urging the United Nations to punish the regime for its decades-old recruitment practice. "Military recruiters are literally buying and selling children to fill the ranks of the Burmese armed forces," Jo Becker, the children's rights advocate for Human Rights Watch, said in the report. The 135-page document, entitled Sold to be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma, included interviews with former child soldiers who said they were forcibly enlisted by the army in Burma, also known as Myanmar. Some of the respondents claimed they were approached by military recruiters at train stations, bus stations and markets, or were threatened with arrest if they refused to volunteer. In one case, a boy told the New York-based rights group he was forcibly recruited at 11, even though he weighed only 70 pounds and was just four feet, three inches tall. Children spent years away from their families and would be sent into combat situations, or would be asked to commit human rights abuses such as burning villages and using civilians for forced labour, said Becker, who co-authored the report. "The government's senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of children and fail to punish perpetrators," she said. Children used to offset high desertion rates While the army faces a military staffing crisis, it seeks young bodies to fill its ranks and make up for high desertion rates, the report said. Those caught trying to escape the army reportedly face beatings. Maung Zaw Oo, who was first recruited at 14, told Human Rights Watch he learned that the corporal who recruited him in 2004 was offered 20,000 kyat (roughly $16 Cdn), a sack of rice and a tin of cooking oil for bringing in the boy. "The corporal sold me," he said. In its recommendations section, Human Rights Watch said the UN Security Council should impose harsh measures against Burma for violating international laws prohibiting the use of child soldiers. Punishment could include bans on the supply of arms, or travel and financial restrictions against leaders in the military junta. Monks reportedly resuming protests Human Rights Watch released the report out of concern that recent violent crackdowns against monk-led protests in the impoverished southeast Asian country could make children even more susceptible to recruitment. Becker said there is mounting concern that the difficulty in finding willing volunteer soldiers to crush the protesters peacefully demonstrating against the ruling junta might mean the regime will look to children. Despite reports and images of children in uniform, state-run media have maintained since September that accusations that Burma uses child soldiers are totally untrue. Meanwhile on Wednesday, reports said more than 100 monks were back on the streets marching again in the north in the first public demonstration since the bloody crackdowns in September. URL: story url
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