· In Burma the Tatmadaw (Army) exercises absolute power of life and death over every civilian, including children.
· Soldiers act with complete impunity, particularly in rural areas, and are not answerable to any laws which exist on paper in Rangoon.
· Children are often shot on sight in free-fire zones, tortured or executed as "suspected rebels", used for forced labour, forcibly conscripted into the Army and otherwise subject to direct abuse.
· They also suffer from the destruction of the village environment and the economy under SLORC policies, which are leading to widespread malnutrition and the death of children, the lack of educational opportunities, and other factors which rob them of a childhood.
Forced Labour
· The most prevalent form of human rights abuse in Burma is forced labor.
· There are several forms of forced labor that children participate in.
· Military Labor, which involves standing sentry, building and maintaining Army camps, and going out as human mine-sweepers)
· There’s also infrastructure labor, which entails building and maintaining supply roads, rail ways, hydro-dams, etcetera
· There’s also forced labor growing cash crops and logging for the military]
· Usually as soon as a child is old enough to carry a basket, he or she optimal for labor.
· The youngest children, usually aged between 8 to 10, are taken for road and railway building.
· 12 year old boys and 14 year old girls are taken for heavy portering duties.
· Conditions for porters are especially brutal; they’re forced to march over mountains with heavy loads and are given only a handfuls of rice per day or else they’re forced to bring their own food
· Many kids are beaten for going too slow and left to die if they get sick or weak.
· The smaller children are generally given light loads but they’re often placed at the front of the military column to serve as human minesweepers and shields
· Many children die after they get back home, after contracting diseases or just from sheer exhaustion
· SLORC battalions generally prefer male porters, but they also deliberately demand or capture women porters in order to rape them at night
· SLORC soldiers generally select unmarried girls under the age 18
· Many of these girls turn out to be pregnant upon returning home and attempt to abort using primitive methods, and sometimes die in the process
· Girls go through this trouble because they fear that if the village finds out that a girl has been raped, no one will want to marry her
Forced Conscription
· Before 1988, the Tatmadaw (Army) was mainly a volunteer force; however, since then, SLORC has pushed to increase its military force and does so through conscription (draft, enrollment) and coercion
· Most townships are assigned a quota of one or two new recruits every month
· Usually, boys from 14 to 16 are drawn in village lotteries, and they have no choice but to go
· Families are often coerced into cooperating after being told that they will be free of forced labor duties if they give the Army their son
· Officers and NCO’s are also offered cash awards of 500 Kyats for any recruits that they bring in
· The funny thing is young boys are oftentimes willing to join the army; they’re offered a chance at adventure, a snappy uniform, a gun, and a high-sounding salary of 750 kyats a month.
· Boys also think that this is the only legitimate way of supporting their families instead of simply being a burden to them.
· Any orphans or unclaimed children are automatically taken in by the Army
· Once you’re in the Army, there’s essentially no more contact with your family back home.
· In the end, the family usually still has to provide forced labor; most of the boy’s pay is either stolen by his officers every month or used to buy his own uniforms, rations, or medication
· The boys are ordered to round up civilians for forced labor, and threatened with a beating and other punishments if they don’t bring back a specific number of laborers.
· In battle situations, boy soldiers are often forced to drink alcohol and take drugs, which makes them mindless, sleepless, and aggressive
· They’re never given leave, no matter what the reason; and when their enlistment time is up after 5 years, the boy is generally told that he can’t leave, so he gets automatically re-enlisted
Education
· Children can’t afford to school because they’re needed at home to help with the family
· In SLORC schools, all teachings must be in Burmese and follows a strict SLORC curriculum
· Teachers, parents, and children have to sign forms promising to not do or say anything against the State or otherwise be subject to arrest
Breakdown of the Village
· Children in Burma are suffering severely and often dying because of the disintegration of social structures such as the family and the village
· With SLORC soldiers constantly raiding villages and driving the people out, children are oftentimes malnourished and sick from commonly treatable diseases while they’re on the run; adults and children are usually shot upon sight.
· Small children in urban areas are sent by their families to go out into the streets and beg
· Many families in rural areas often hand over their children in return for a 5,000 kyat down-payment with the promise of their child having a good job later down the road in Thailand or elsewhere.
· However, these kids usually end up being sold into bonded labor, such as Thai brothels or factory sweatshops.
