PHNOM PENH: Myanmar has discharged over one thousand child soldiers and returned them to their families over the last decade, while steps are being taken to prevent the recruitment of minors into the military service.
The state media, The Global New Light of Myanmar, on Friday (Sept 26) reported that between 2012 and this year, 1,152 underage soldiers mistakenly recruited were withdrawn from the army services and sent back to their parents.
"The eligible people were summoned, and those mistakenly summoned were allowed to return, and those who mistakenly summoned the underage people were charged,” Myanmar Defence Minister General Maung Maung Aye said at a child soldier prevention committee meeting on Thursday, reported the state media.
He also said that the Tatmadaw, or the Myanmar armed forces, conducts recruitment based on the guidelines of the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting mechanism and local laws, while ministries are carrying out awareness campaigns on the recruitment of minors.
"Tatmadaw’s senior officers conducted 2,720 talks to prevent the recruitment of underage soldiers from 2021 to August 2025,” said the paper.
The military, which came into power after displacing the elected civilian government on Feb 1, 2021, is engaged in armed conflict on multiple fronts with at least 20 ethnic groups in parts of Myanmar.
About 3.5 million people have been displaced internally due to the ongoing conflict, with at least 30 per cent of them being children who are constantly exposed to poverty, security and health crises, according to the United Nations.
The nation’s humanitarian woes are worsened by a series of natural disasters - Cyclone Mocha in 2023, Typhoon Yagi last September, the huge earthquake in March this year, and the yearly monsoon floods.
Over 3,700 people lost their lives in the earthquake. - Bernama
