Myanmar’s military government has acknowledged the discharge of 93 minors from its armed forces, responding to a recent United Nations report accusing it and allied groups of recruiting more than 400 children—many of whom were allegedly used in combat roles.
In a rare public admission published on Friday in the Global New Light of Myanmar, a junta-run newspaper, the government stated it had completed a verification process in 2024 that led to the release of the underage recruits, who were also provided with financial assistance. A government-led committee added that “only 18 suspected minor cases remain pending verification.”
The announcement follows sharp criticism from the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict, which accused Myanmar’s military and its affiliates of recruiting 467 boys and 15 girls last year, with over 370 reportedly deployed in combat roles. The report also noted child recruitment by anti-junta groups, though their numbers were significantly lower.
Myanmar has remained gripped by conflict since the military overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 coup. What began as mass civil resistance has evolved into a nationwide armed uprising, with ethnic insurgent groups and newly formed militias gaining significant ground—especially in the country’s border regions. The military, increasingly hemmed into central Myanmar, has struggled to maintain control.
In 2024, the junta resorted to activating a long-dormant mandatory military service law to counteract plummeting recruitment figures. Young people have since been conscripted en masse to replenish government ranks as relentless fighting continues to erode the junta’s territorial hold.
According to UNICEF, approximately 3.5 million people have been internally displaced by the ongoing conflict, with children making up more than one-third of that number.
The UN report identified Myanmar’s western Rakhine state as the epicentre of child soldier recruitment, with some 300 minors enlisted by the military and its two allied forces operating there. Rakhine is home to the minority Muslim Rohingya community, which has long faced persecution at the hands of the Myanmar military.
Last year, a report revealed that children as young as 13 were fighting on the frontlines in Rakhine, citing accounts from a UN official and two Rohingya fighters. The region continues to be a flashpoint, not just for military violence but also for militant recruitment, particularly among displaced Rohingya living in refugee camps across the border in Bangladesh.
Millions of Rohingya remain confined in these camps, where the absence of formal schooling and growing desperation have created fertile ground for exploitation by armed groups.
While Myanmar’s admission of discharging 93 minors marks a rare concession to international pressure, human rights observers caution that it represents only a fraction of the overall problem. The military’s broader record of systemic abuses, including forced conscription, attacks on civilians, and ethnic cleansing campaigns, remains under intense scrutiny from the global community.
For now, the junta’s gesture—limited as it may be—signals that international pressure still has some effect, though much more remains to be done to dismantle entrenched patterns of exploitation and impunity.
Melissa Enoch
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