Myanmar, also known as Burma, has seen many great changes in recent times.
Political Context:
In 2007, backed by Buddhist monks, the Burmese people peacefully demonstrated against the military government.
Then in 2011, a civilian power officially succeeded the military Junta that had governed the country for almost 50 years, although in reality, the military has retained a significant foothold in the government.
The Burmese Armed Forces:
The Burmese army, or Tatmadaw, is made up of around 492,000 soldiers and over 72,000 paramilitaries, making it the second largest army in South-East Asia after the Vietnamese army.
It has, however, suffered waves of desertion since 2007 when, during the “Saffron revolution” against the military government, the order was given to pull fire on Buddhist monks (89% of the population practise this religion).
In theory, enlistment in the army is voluntary. In practice, this is not the case. Indeed, children are regularly taken or bought to serve in the army.
Demobilisation of Child Soldiers in Myanmar:
Following reports from Human Rights Watch and several newspapers [1] exposing Myanmar’s child soldiers and faced with international pressure, Myanmar reached an agreement with the United Nations in 2012 to discharge child soldiers from its army. The Myanmar government signed an action plan agreeing to register all children in its army and to release them as quickly as possible.
UNICEF welcomed the discharge of 42 child soldiers on the 8th of July 2013 but called for the Myanmar army to speed up the release of the remaining children.
UNICEF’s representative in Myanmar announced: “Through today’s release and by refraining from recruiting further children, the Myanmar government and its armed forces continue to demonstrate their desire to put an end to this sad practice.”
The release of these children is the first step towards a larger demobilisation. However, the situation remains worrying, and Myanmar seems little inclined to actively cooperate, refusing on several occasions to allow UN personnel access to military bases as stipulated in the agreement signed by Myanmar and the UN in 2012.
[1] BECKER, J., In Myanmar the Underground Trade in Boy Soldiers Continues, The Nation [en ligne], July 2013.
BELL, T., Burmese army ‘abducts thousands of children, The Telegraph [en ligne], October 2007.
