Is child soldiers an ongoing problem in Myanmar?

Although the government has facilitated a number of reforms within the past two years and has developed a new willingness to sign commitments such as the ‘Joint Action Plan’ on child soldiers, child soldiers is one of the ongoing problem in Myanmar.

http://www.dvb.no/dvb-video/child-recruitment-an-ongoing-problem-burma-myanmar-military-soldiers-underage/32807 Since coming into power in 2011 and releasing the heroic democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, President Thein Sein’s Myanmar has been likened to South Africa under de Klerk and Mandela in the early 1990s[i]. However, now the UN Secretary General has named Myanmar as one of 14 countries with armed groups committing grave child rights violations who are working together with the UN system to end violations against children in situations of armed conflict[ii].

[i] Yuriko Koike, ‘Comparing Myanmar to South Africa’, CNN.com, 30 November 2011, <http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/30/comparing-myanmar-to-south-africa/> [accessed 03 August 2013]
[ii] United Nations News Centre, ‘Myanmar: UN welcomes release of child soldiers by national armed forces’, UN.org, 18 February 2013, <http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44164#.Uf1Jk6xCqy4> [accessed 03 August 2013]

Child soldiers in Myanmar (Photo Internet)

 http://www.dvb.no/dvb-video/child-recruitment-an-ongoing-problem-burma-myanmar-military-soldiers-underage/32807