In Myanmar the underground trade in boy soldiers continues

Nation ^ | 07/02/2013 | Jo Becker

[TexGrill]

I have spent more than a decade documenting the use of child soldiers in Myanmar, and have interviewed boys who were only 11 when they were forced to join the army. Initially, Myanmar's government flatly denied any use of children by its army, despite evidence that children were systematically recruited in large numbers. More recently, the authorities have not only acknowledged the problem, but signed a formal UN agreement to release all children from the forces by the end of this year. But disturbing evidence shows that the underground trade in underage soldiers remains a serious problem.

Myanmar law explicitly forbids recruiting children under 18 to the armed forces. But recruiters are under pressure from central command to maintain high rates of enlistment, and continually bring in new recruits to offset high rates of desertion from the army. To fill their quotas, they work with corrupt members of the civilian administration to obtain forged documents or illegally procured ID cards to bring in underage soldiers, often by force. The system thrives because senior officers have consistently failed to reconcile the conflicting messages to field units throughout Myanmar: keep your numbers high but don't force children into the ranks. Most units think maintaining troop strength is the imperative.

[TexGrill]

New recruits for Bathouse Barry's Rainbow Warriors.