Myanmar army has 70,000 child-soldiers
Myanmar's army has an estimated 70,000 soldiers under 18 years of age, the largest number of child soldiers in the world, Human Rights Watch said in a report.
Children as young as 11 years old are being forcibly snatched off the streets and recruited into the army, which has an estimated 350,000 soldiers, the New York-based group said in a report on its website.
Myanmar's ruling junta denied the allegations: ‘The government finds it very difficult to understand on what basis it is making such claims, saying that 20 per cent of the national army is made up of underage children.’
Ms Jo Becker, advocacy director of the group's Children's Rights Division, said that Myanmar's record on child soldiers was ‘the worst in the world’.
The army uses ‘threats, intimidation and often violence to force young boys to become soldiers'. (6)
Children as young as 11 years old are being forcibly snatched off the streets and recruited into the army, which has an estimated 350,000 soldiers, the New York-based group said in a report on its website.
Myanmar's ruling junta denied the allegations: ‘The government finds it very difficult to understand on what basis it is making such claims, saying that 20 per cent of the national army is made up of underage children.’
Ms Jo Becker, advocacy director of the group's Children's Rights Division, said that Myanmar's record on child soldiers was ‘the worst in the world’.
The army uses ‘threats, intimidation and often violence to force young boys to become soldiers'. (6)
(6) Associate Press, The Straits Times, 17 October 2002
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