"...As can be seen in all of the chapters of this, the current, as well as in all previous editions of the Burma Human Rights Yearbook, all human rights abuses committed in Burma which affect the general population have additional impacts upon the lives of children. For instance, children in Burma often become orphans when their parents are killed, and when they lose their parents, many children also lose their primary (if not only) benefactors, caregivers, and educators. Moreover, the family unit breaks down, causing often disastrous consequences on the development of the child. Similarly, whenever adults are subjected to arrest or exploited as forced labour, their children again suffer in much the same way as just described. Moreover, issues which have adverse affects upon the health and well being of the general population have further supplementary impacts upon the health of children. Furthermore, in many cases of economic hardship, children are often pulled out of school and sent to work in the informal market, on the streets or to beg so that they can help support the family, yet all of these environments increase their exposure to illicit drugs, petty crime, violence, the risk of arrest and detention, sexual abuse, and exploitation.5 One of the most pervasive features of contemporary Burma is the level to which its society has been militarized. It is within this context the usual mechanisms that normally protect children can be undermined or neglected due to prioritization of alternative goals. Of all the areas in which Burmese children grow up, perhaps the political environment of greatest concern is that related to children in ethnic and armed conflict areas, for it are in these areas that children face the most severe and systematic abuses..."