YANGON: Myanmar’s military has released 75 child soldiers, a UN agency said, its first discharge this year as part of a gradual process to end decades of forced recruitment of underage fighters.
There are no concrete figures on how many children are still among the estimated 500,000 troops that serve in Myanmar’s military, or the ethnic rebel armies that it battles in the country’s border regions.
The state’s army has released 924 children and young people from its ranks since signing a deal with the United Nations in 2012, according to Friday’s statement released by UN child protection agency UNICEF.
The child soldiers released will have to attend reintegration programs to return them to civilian life, a process that will contribute to “bringing lasting peace in Myanmar as productive citizens,” the statement added.
Experts say that as long as the army and ethnic armed groups continue warring within Myanmar, children remain at risk of recruitment.
They are usually kidnapped or taken by force from public spaces like parks and train stations in their towns, before being threatened with jail time if they refuse to be conscripted.
UNICEF added in addition to the army there are seven other “persistent perpetrators” that recruit child soldiers including the Kachin Independence Army and the Shan State Army South — both ethnic groups that continue to engage in skirmishes with the Myanmar military.
Myanmar releases 75 more child soldiers: UNICEF
Myanmar releases 75 more child soldiers: UNICEF
- The state’s army has released 924 children and young people from its ranks since signing a deal with the United Nations in 2012
- Experts say that as long as the army and ethnic armed groups continue warring within Myanmar, children remain at risk of recruitment
Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’
- Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs
- Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts
BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Donald Trump on Friday of trying to create “a new UN” with his proposed “Board of Peace.”
The veteran leftist joins other world leaders who have avoided signing up for Trump’s new global conflict resolution organization, where a permanent seat costs $1 billion and the chairman is Trump himself.
“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said.
Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos Thursday, joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign its founding charter.
Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs.
His remarks come a day after he spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who urged his counterpart to safeguard the “central role” of the United Nations in international affairs.
In his remarks on Friday, Lula said “the UN charter is being torn.”
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts.
London balked at the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.
France said the charter as it currently stood was “incompatible” with its international commitments, especially its UN membership.
