A way to go on child soldier issue

A way to go on child soldier issue

By Staff Writers   |   Tuesday, 09 July 2013

The United Nations has welcomed the Tatmadaw's release of more child soldiers but says it still needs to do more before it can be considered for removal from secretary general Ban Ki-moon's blacklist of armies that recruit and use children.

The Tatmadaw on July 7 discharged 34 child soldiers and eight other soldiers who had been recruited as children to their families and friends in the presence of high-ranking members of the government and UN agencies. The youngest solider released was 15 years old and the oldest, at 24, had been recruited into the army as a child. The average age of the discharged soldiers was 17.

UN resident coordinator Ashok Nigam applauded the army's move and said he now "expects the Tatmadaw … to be in a position to speed up the release of all children".

"We are very happy for the 42 children and their families today, but we must accelerate efforts so that many more children will benefit from release," Mr Nigam said.

"All parties recognise this is about the future of Myanmar," he said. "Nothing justifies the recruitment of children in the armed forces. The army is not a place for a child to grow up."

Just over one year ago, the Myanmar government agreed to adhere to the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1612, which established a monitoring and reporting mechanism on the use of child soldiers and was originally passed in 2005. For Myanmar, the agreement requires that the government locate all children recruited by the Tatmadaw with the goal of ensuring their unconditional release within 18 months.  Since the agreement was signed 108 children have been discharged from the army, said UNICEF representative Bertrand Bainvel. The number of new underage recruits has also fallen in the past three years, he said.

With only six months remaining on the 18-month action plan agreement, Mr Bainvel said UNICEF and the government are discussing a realistic time-frame for the implementation of remaining commitments under the current plan, including an extension.

"There have been constraints and progress has been somehow slower than expected," Mr Bainvel told The Myanmar Times. "But the recent mid-term review of the action plan – jointly conducted with the Tatmadaw – has been an opportunity for the government to renew its commitment and identify areas for acceleration.

"It's an ongoing negotiation and discussion based on an understanding that children should no longer be recruited and that all children must be released," he said.

The International Labour Organization, which is also working with the Tatmadaw on the action plan, said that its figures for complaints submitted about underage recruitment also indicated a decline since the plan was signed.

Piyamal Pichaiwongse, the deputy liaison officer at the ILO office in Yangon, said that while complaints about underage recruitment have risen in the past few years, this was due to increasing awareness of the complaint mechanism rather than a rise in recruitment.

She said that 1052 cases have been reported to the ILO regarding underage recruitment in the Tatmadaw since 2007, rising from 83 cases in 2009 to 205 in 2010 and 319 in 2012. However, of these complaints, 129 related to recruitment in 2011, falling to 44 in 2012.

The most recent release of the children shows that the Tatmadaw has started to work "more vigorously" towards the goals of the agreement, Ms Piyamal said. However, it still needs to provide UN agencies with more access to military sites to ensure transparency.

"This is a relationship based on transparency," said Ms Piyamal. "The Tatmadaw will have to trust the UN a little bit more … then we'll be able to tell if the commitment is real."

The ILO's role in the process is to monitor and assess sites and it often shares its findings with army officers immediately after performing an assessment. Under the terms of the agreement, the organisation has access to military sites but still must notify the Tatmadaw before a team arrives at a location.

Ms Piyamal said that access to military sites has improved in the past few weeks.

"Only if we have access can we talk freely," she said. "We want the action plan to be implemented according to what has been agreed – we don't ask for more."

She also said that delisting from the secretary general's list of armies that recruit children is not like to be based on raw figures alone.

"It is more of how we work together in partnership, the level of access we gain, and trust we have together in order to move the forward to satisfy ourselves that the recruitment of an underage person is no longer the practice in Myanmar."

Ms Piyamal said the root of the problem is that the army still needs to reform itself to make recruitment voluntary. If the Tatmadaw really wants to create change, she said, it needs to create an environment where potential recruits say, "If I join the army, I will have food on the table and I will be able to feed my family."

"The goal [for a solider] should be to represent the national pride," she said. "To take pride in the work they are doing, to lead a decent life."

After being released, former child soldiers are provided with support from a network of non-government organisations and UN agencies.  They are given basic needs kits by UNICEF, Save the Children and World Vision that include clothing, food, and everyday items. They are also provided with new identity cards and their physical, mental and educational needs are assessed. When they are ready they also receive vocational training and employment advice as needed from the ILO.

Since 2006, 520 children have been released from the Tatmadaw and a total of 350 have been reintegrated with help from the various agencies, UNICEF said.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/07/11/a-way-to-go-on-child-soldier-issue/