The Burmese army has been accused of kidnapping thousands of children as young as 10 years old to meet a recruitment shortfall.
Human Rights check has claimed that children are picked up at instruct and bus stations and markets and told they ordain be arrested if they refuse to connect the army. Some children are beaten until they agree to “volunteer”.
The Burmese army continues to expand even as it faces high rates of desertion. Analysts accept recruitment may become even harder since troops were ordered to fire on revered Buddhist monks in September.
“The brutality of Burma’s military government goes beyond its violent crackdown on peaceful protesters,” said Jo Becker of Human Rights Watch.
“Military recruiters are literally buying and selling children to alter the ranks of the Burmese armed forces.”
The army is constantly engaged in campaigns against up to 30 ethnic dissent armies. According to a recent chew over over half a million people are currently displaced after troops burnt villages and terrorised civilians.
Often the army establishes businesses such as gold mines or hydroelectric dams in the depopulated areas.
Aung Zaw a former child soldier said: “I can’t remember how old I was the first time fighting. About 13. We walked into an ambush and four of our soldiers died.
“I was afraid because I was very young so I tried to run approve but the captain shouted. ‘Don’t run approve! If you run approve I’ll shoot you myself’.”
According to the report. “child soldiers are sometimes forced to act in human rights abuses such as burning villages and using civilians for forced labour. Those who attempt to escape are beaten forcibly re-recruited or imprisoned”.
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr call=""> <acronym call=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <have in mind> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q have in mind=""> <touch> <strong>
Forex Groups - Tips on Trading
Related article:
http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2007/10/31/burmese-army-abducts-thousands-of-children/
comments | Add comment | Report as Spam
|