Child military recruits in Myanmar

While this news is not surprising, the Burmese government is forcibly recruiting many children, some as young as age 10, into its armed forces. The Human Rights Watch report  Sold to Be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma found that military recruiters and civilian brokers receive cash payments and other incentives for each new recruit, even if the recruit clearly violates minimum age or health standards.  It is almost more surprising to learn that there is a bureaucracy of recruitment, since we know that the Myanmar government uses slave labour and we see on TV minors carrying guns in news reports from Sudan, Middle East and other hot spots.  But the timing is opportune as international attention is on the Myanmar public demonstrations calling for democracy.

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