Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
Articles on this category from the collections of Burmanet News
Source/publisher:
Burmanet News
Date of entry/update:
2016-02-29
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
more
Description:
Reports (text and video), international standards.... "Children in Myanmar have been widely used in armed conflict by both state armed forces and non-state armed groups. Despite a minimum age of 18 for military recruitment, over the years many hundreds of boys have been recruited, often forcibly into the national army (Tatmadaw Kyi) and deployed to areas where state forces have been fighting armed opposition groups. Border guard forces, composed of former members of armed opposition groups and formally under the command of the Myanmar military, also have under-18s in their ranks.
In June 2012, after protracted negotiations with the UN, the Myanmar government signed up to an action plan under which it has committed to release all under-18s present from Tatmadaw Kyi and border guard forces.
Child recruitment and use by armed opposition groups is also reported. These include: the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA), Karenni National Progressive Party/Karenni Army (KNPP/KA), Shan State Army South (SSA-S), United Wa State Army (UWSA). The KNU/KNLA and KNPP/KA have sought to conclude action plans on child soldiers with the UN, but the UN has been prevented from doing so by the Government of Myanmar.
"Our current work in Myanmar aims to:
Identify legal, policy and practical measures needed to end child recruitment and use by Tatmadaw Kyi and border guard forces, and to advocate for full and effective implementation of the action plan.
Seek tangible progress on armed opposition groups? compliance with international standards on child soldiers..."
Source/publisher:
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children and armed conflict, Children
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
more
Description:
The state party reports, CRC Concluding Observations, Summary Records etc.
Source/publisher:
United Nations
Date of entry/update:
2004-02-14
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
Format :
php
Size:
810 bytes
more
Description:
52 results (December 2009) from a search for "Children" in the drop-down menu of Database Search under Advanced Search -- KHRG home page
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-15
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
The most substantial material on the site is in the Media Centre, and includes: a pdf document in Burmese: "Questions and Answers on HIV and AIDS"... "The State of the World's Children 2005 - Children under threat" in English, (and in the same box a link to what should be a Burmese version, but since this is 56 pages rather than the 164 of the English, I have doubts)... "Progress For Children
A Child Survival Report Card" in English, with The Foreword, Child Survival, and the East Asia and Pacific sections in Burmese... a "Myanmar Reporter's Manual" (65 pages)in English and Burmese versions:
"This manual provides instruction on international-standard reporting skills, child-focused reporting and ethics for Myanmar journalists in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child." then there is a glossy, 28-page "UNICEF in Myanmar - Protecting Lives, Nurturing Dreams" in English.....In the For Children and Youth section is an illustrated and simplified aticle-by-article version of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and a couple of illustrated online books for young children and their families in English and Burmese. Under Youth Web Links there English language animations (I suppose) called "Top 10 Cartoons for Children's Rights" but I could not get them to work. Also links to several other UNICEF and UN young people's sites. The "Activities" and "Real Lives" sections deal with UNICEF's activities in the country.
Source/publisher:
UNICEF
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children, UN agencies
Language:
English
more
Description:
These results are for 2015. Change search options in column on the left...Search for Myanmar. 464 results (November 2001). 819 in May 2005, 1749 in 2015. Images and substantial documents.
Source/publisher:
United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF)
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children, UN agencies
Language:
English
more
Description:
Press Releases, UN reports and actions and other documents and updates from 2003 on children and armed conflict in Myanmar...includes links to Security Council material
Source/publisher:
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
Date of publication:
2013-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-04
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Children and armed conflict, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English, Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
more
Individual Documents
Description:
"With scores of children killed and maimed each year in Myanmar’s long-running ethnic wars, and hundreds conscripted as laborers, the government is setting up a national complaint mechanism for reporting violence and sexual crimes against minors in regions under conflict, officials said.
Myanmar, whose military has been at war with ethnic armies fighting for autonomy since the country gained independence from Britain in 1948, has struggled to shed a reputation for use of child soldiers. It signed an action plan with the U.N. in 2012 to prevent the recruitment and use of children as soldiers.
In 2019, Myanmar’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement set up a Committee on the Prevention of Grave Violations against Children in Armed Conflict and enacted a Child Rights Law to align its national policies and regulations with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The committee submitted a national action plan for protecting children in armed conflicts from injury, death and sexual violence to President Win Myint's office on June 3, said Win Naing Tun, director-general of the ministry’s Rehabilitation Department.
“We are waiting for approval,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service. “If it is approved, we will start accepting complaints. Then, we will make assessments along with relevant organizations.”
Win Myat Aye, Myanmar’s minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, will oversee the process, which will include officials from the home affairs and defense services ministries who will take action against perpetrators of violence against children, Win Naing Tun said.
They also will work with U.N. groups or the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR), co-chaired by UNICEF and the highest U.N. representative in-country, on the implementation phase and awareness-raising campaigns, he added.
The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Myanmar ratified in 1991, prohibits all forms of violence against children under the age of 18. It also criminalizes grave violations against children and grants them legal protections..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of publication:
2020-07-22
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Description:
"A surge in fighting between the Myanmar military and insurgents has killed at least 32 civilians, mostly women and children, in the restive Rakhine and Chin states, the U.N. human rights office said on Friday, adding the military had destroyed homes and schools.
Myanmar’s military denies targeting civilians and a spokesman on Friday declined to respond to the allegations.
The Arakan Army, an insurgent group seeking greater autonomy for the region, has been battling government troops for more than a year.
“Myanmar’s military has been carrying out almost daily air strikes and shelling in populated areas resulting in at least 32 deaths and 71 injuries since 23 March, the majority women and children, and they have also been destroying and burning schools and homes,” U.N. human rights office spokesman Rupert Colville told a Geneva news briefing.
He later said that the 32 were civilians..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of publication:
2020-04-17
Date of entry/update:
2020-04-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Women of Burma -- bibliographies, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
more
Description:
"The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Virginia Gamba, completed a five-day mission to Myanmar where she engaged with national authorities, civil society, Ethnic Armed Organizations representatives, the Diplomatic Corps and the Country Taskforce on Monitoring and Reporting on Children and Armed Conflict (CTFMR on CAAC) in Myanmar.
“Children in Myanmar have suffered tremendously from the impact of hostilities, especially in Rakhine, Shan and Kachin States; it is crucial for all parties, including the Tatmadaw and other Government security forces, to continue their engagement with the United Nations to end and prevent violations against children,” said the Special Representative.
During this visit to Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw, the second since 2018, the Special Representative met with senior government officials including the State Counsellor and Foreign Minister, Her Excellency Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as the Ministers of Defense, of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, of Labor and Immigration and Population, and with the Union Attorney General. She also had constructive discussions with the Chairs of the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee.
“The Government Forces have made significant progress in the implementation of their joint Action Plan signed in 2012 with the United Nations on the recruitment of children; the Action Plan must now be expedited and finalized. I also urge the Tatmadaw Army to continue its engagement with the United Nations to develop measures to better protect children and to commit to a joint action plan on killing and maiming and sexual violence, violations for which they remain listed,” she added..."
Source/publisher:
UN Office of the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-01-20
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's Rights - studies, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Description:
"UNICEF Myanmar has expressed deep sorrow over the death of four children last week when an explosive device went off while they were collecting fire wood in the forest near Htike Htoo Pauk village of Buthedaung Township in Rakhine State. Five more children were injured in the incident.
UNICEF, in a statement, said it was deeply concerned about the continued reports of killings and injuries of children, as a result of intensified fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army in the conflict-affected areas of Rakhine State.
In 2019 alone, 16 children lost their life and 36 have been severely injured in conflict affected areas of Myanmar as a result of incidents caused by landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERWs)..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-01-13
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Topic:
Child protection, Armed conflict, Myanmar
Topic:
Child protection, Armed conflict, Myanmar
Description:
"UNICEF Myanmar expresses deep sorrow over the death offour children on Monday when an explosive device went off while they were collecting fire wood in the forest near Htike Htoo Pauk village of Buthedaung Township in Rakhine State. Five more children were injured in the incident. Our thoughts go to the families of the victims, to those injured and to all children caught up in conflict.
UNICEF is deeply concerned about the continued reports of killings and injuries of children, as a result of intensified fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army in the conflict-affected areas of Rakhine State.
In 2019 alone, 16 children lost their life and 36 have been severely injured in conflict affect areas of Myanmar as a result of incidents caused by landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERWs).
UNICEF urges all parties to the conflict to stop laying mines and to clear existing mines and unexploded ordinances to ensure the safety of children caught up in conflict, and to uphold their right to protection. UNICEF also urges the Government to facilitate access for the provision of emergency Mine Risk Education activities so children, teachers and other community members receive psychosocial support and mine risk education in schools and communities in all conflict-affected areas of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of publication:
2020-01-12
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
more
Description:
" Myanmar has taken the lead in Southeast Asia to eliminate corporal punishment and child labour with the ratification of a minimum age obligation and new legislation.
According to the Myanmar Times, last November, the International labour Organisation’s Minimum Age Convention No 138 was approved by parliament.
Among others, the 18-article convention allows Myanmar and other underdeveloped countries to employ children aged 12 to 14 for non-harmful light work.
It also seeks to abolish child labour and support the physical, mental and economic development of young people.
A few months earlier, Myanmar enacted the Child Rights Law, which garnered widespread recognition and support among civil society organisations for the advancement of children’s rights.
It also ended violence against children and the legislation was applauded by the likes of Unicef, Human Rights Watch and Save the Children.
Save the Children, which has operations in Myanmar, hailed the nation as a leader in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the issue of any form of punishment perpetrated against children..."
Source/publisher:
"New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2020-01-09
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Child labour in Burma
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Deadly landmine explosion happens in forest where Rohingya from nearby villages went to harvest firewood
Description:
"Four Rohingya children were killed in a landmine explosion in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state early Tuesday, according to an official.
A group of more than 10 local Rohingya -- including several teenagers -- were harvesting firewood in the forest near Hteiktoo Pauk village in Kyauktaw Township when the mine exploded around 10.30 a.m. local time (0600GMT).
“Four children, two of them 8 years old and two of them 10, were killed on the spot,” said Aung Thaung Shwe, lower house lawmaker for the area.
He told Anadolu Agency by phone on Tuesday that six other Rohingya -- one adult man and five teenage boys -- were also injured in the landmine explosion.
It is still unclear whether Myanmar’s military or the Arakan Army -- a predominantly Buddhist ethnic group fighting for greater autonomy in the region -- planted the landmine in the forest.
“It is an act of terror as it targets civilians,” said Aung Thaung Shwe.
According to local media reports citing data from civil society groups, around 100 civilians have been killed in Rakhine state by armed clashes since the Arakan Army launched synchronized attacks on police outposts last January, killing 13 officers..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of publication:
2020-01-07
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Reports and maps covering anti-personnel landmines and Burma/Myanmar, Discrimination against the Rohingya, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Myanmar is the leading country in Southeast Asia in eliminating corporal punishment and child labour following the ratification of a minimum age obligation and passsage of a landmark legislation.
Description:
"In November, the parliament approved the ratification of the International Labour Organization’s Minimum Age Convention No 138. The 18-article convention seeks to abolish child labour and support the physical, mental and economic development of young people, while allowing Myanmar and other underdeveloped countries to employ children aged 12 to 14 for non-harmful light work. This follows the enactment of the Child Rights Law a few months earlier, a move which garnered widespread recognition and support among civil society organisations for the advancement of children's rights, particularly in ending violence against children. The legislation was applauded by the likes of UNICEF, Human Rights Watch and Save the Children.
Save the Children, which has operations in Myanmar, hailed the nation as a leader in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the issue of any form of punishment perpetrated against children..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2020-01-07
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Three-fold rise in verified attacks on children since 2010, an average of 45 violations a day
Description:
"Children continue to pay a deadly price as conflicts rage around the world, UNICEF said today. Since the start of the decade, the United Nations has verified more than 170,000 grave violations against children in conflict – the equivalent of more than 45 violations every day for the last 10 years.
The number of countries experiencing conflict is the highest it has been since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, with dozens of violent armed conflicts killing and maiming children and forcing them from their homes.
“Conflicts around the world are lasting longer, causing more bloodshed and claiming more young lives,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. “Attacks on children continue unabated as warring parties flout one of the most basic rules of war: the protection of children. For every act of violence against children that creates headlines and cries of outrage, there are many more that go unreported.”
In 2018, the UN verified more than 24,000 grave violations against children, including killing, maiming, sexual violence, abductions, denial of humanitarian access, child recruitment and attacks on schools and hospitals. While monitoring and reporting efforts have been strengthened, this number is more than two-and-a-half times higher than that recorded in 2010..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (New York)
Date of publication:
2019-12-29
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Description:
"Hundreds rallied in Myanmar’s commercial capital Yangon on Monday to protest the release by police officials of the identity of a child-rape victim known to the public as Victoria, demanding that authorities take action against the officers exposing her identity.
The toddler nicknamed Victoria was two years and 11 months old when she was allegedly assaulted on May 16 at the private Wisdom Hill School in Zabuthiri township of Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw.
On July 14, police arrested 29-year-old Aung Kyaw Myo, a driver at the school who goes by the name Aung Gyi, charging him with rape based on the school’s CCTV video footage, an identification by the victim, and the presence of semen on his underwear.
Speaking at a press conference on Dec. 19, senior police officers Police Major General Aung Naing Thu, Police Brigadier General Soe Naing, Police Brigadier General Min Han, and Police Colonel Thar Htoon for the first time named the child victim in the case, later posting further information about the young girl and her family on the police department’s official Facebook page..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-12-23
Date of entry/update:
2020-01-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: resources and organisations, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Description:
"Earlier this year, in June, Save the Children released its Global Childhood Report 2019. The report involved a total of 176 countries, and took a look at indicators such as children’s healthcare, education, nutrition and protection. But while Singapore took lead in terms of providing a safe and fostering environment for children, leaving other ASEAN countries far behind, countries like Lao, Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines performed the worst in the bloc.
The ASEAN Post has published several articles citing this particular report. We looked at the dire state in Lao, Cambodia, and the Philippines, and also commended Singapore for being able to grab top spot for the second year in a row. Nevertheless, today it’s pertinent to also take a closer look at Myanmar.
Talking about children in Myanmar is timely as recently, the country’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Assembly of the Union) approved Myanmar’s ratification of an international treaty to abolish child labour in the country. The Minimum Age Convention (138) of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which includes the abolition of child labour, was approved on Tuesday..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-12-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Child labour in Burma, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
more
Description:
"On 6 December, yet another child lost his precious life in a horrific manner. The nine-year-old student, who was reportedly still wearing his school uniform and fleeing his school with other students because they heard sounds of armed clashes, was struck by several bullets and died on the spot on the road in front of his school, Basic Education Primary School – Pike The, in Kyauktaw, Rakhine State. We are shocked and saddened at such tragic loss of a child’s life.
UNICEF is deeply concerned about the alarming increase of reports of killings and injuries of children, as a result of intensified fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Arakan Army in the conflict-affected areas of Rakhine State.
UNICEF calls on all parties to the conflict to ensure the full respect of the civilian character of schools, and to prevent any interference of armed actors with education infrastructures, personnel and students in line with national legal frameworks such as the Child Rights Law and the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement as well as obligations under international law. The presence of armed actors in or around schools increases the risk of schools being targeted and students and school personnel may be harmed, and school facilities damaged. It prevents children from accessing education, and associates schools with violent and traumatic events. We owe it to children to keep them safe at school and we urge all parties to the conflict, to exercise maximum restraint and to protect children at all times.
UNICEF further calls on the Government of Myanmar to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration and to adopt the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict, into domestic policy and operational frameworks..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-12-12
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Rakhine (Arakan) State
Language:
more
Description:
"Children in conflict with the law will have their rights protected by the International Legal Foundation (ILF) and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) Myanmar.
The partnership followed the implementation of the nation’s Child Rights Law which came into effect in July, according to The Myanmar Times.
Funded by the European Union initiative “Protecting children affected by migration in Southeast, South, and Central Asia”, the project focused on diverting children away from the criminal justice system and promoting alternatives to their detention.
Unicef Myanmar and the ILF would train defence lawyers and other justice stakeholders on child-friendly justice as well as set defence standards for juveniles.
They would also facilitate increased cooperation between police, prosecutors, judges and social service providers to divert cases concerning minors away from courts and connect children with appropriate community support to promote alternatives to incarceration.
Jennifer Smith, executive director of the ILF, underscored the importance of having skilled lawyers to defend children accused of crimes.
“Children need strong and skilled defenders to fight for them from the earliest possible moment after arrest, and their cases must be handled differently from adults,” she said..."
Source/publisher:
"New Straits Times" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-12-06
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's Rights - studies, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Description:
"The Drivers of Violence Against Adolescents in Myanmar: Consultations to Inform Adolescent Programming Report is part of the Understanding Violence Against Adolescents in Myanmar Series which aims to contribute to this growing body of evidence to understand better why violence against children is happening and what is driving it. The Series draws data from both nationally representative data as is presented in this report and from the UNICEF-supported interventions where diverse information is being collected as part of programme monitoring. The Series attempts to give it a closer look at the data and information at hand and dig deeper the issue of violence against children in Myanmar. We hope to generate evidence, create deeper understanding of the issue and stimulate discussions – all to better inform programming to address violence against children in Myanmar.
This publication has been funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Government of Canada, as well as the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict. The views expressed in this publication are the author’s alone and are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, Canadian Government, UN Action or UNICEF..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-12-03
Date of entry/update:
2019-12-04
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.3 MB (80 pages)
more
Description:
"Myanmar is endeavoring to ensure equal rights of all children in the country, said a high-ranking Myanmar social welfare official.
There are about 17 million children across the nation who will be leading the future one day and this event aims to leave legacies for the next generation, said Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Win Myat Aye Dr Win Myat Aye on Wednesday in his opening address to mark the 30th anniversary United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in Nay Phi Taw.
The minister outlined five tasks to carry out -- enacting suitable law for the convention, forming a national mechanism to implement the facts, cooperating with domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations and central statistical organizations to monitor and evaluate the implementation of child rights.
The minister disclosed that the government is to guarantee four rights of children, including the rights to live, develop, protect and participate..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of publication:
2019-11-21
Date of entry/update:
2019-11-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Description:
" Thousands of protesters marched to a police station in Yangon on Saturday, demanding justice in a child-rape case that has sparked national outrage.
Police said this week that they had arrested a suspect in the rape of a toddler - nicknamed Victoria - at a private nursery school in the administrative capital, Nay Pyi Taw, in May.
Social media users have questioned the slowness and professionalism of the police response after the girl’s family filed a complaint more than a month ago, underscoring a lack of trust in authorities in a country still emerging from decades of military rule.A government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took power after winning the elections in 2015, but key institutions such as the police remain under military control and efforts to strengthen the rule of law have floundered.
Organisers estimated as many as 6,000 protesters gathered on Saturday at the Yangon office of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) wearing white T-shirts, some printed with the words “Justice for Victoria”. One banner read: “We don’t want any more Victorias.”
The protesters also called on the government to create a safe environment for Myanmar’s children..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (USA) via "Bangkok Post"/Learning (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-07-08
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's Rights - studies
Language:
more
Description:
"Only a few months ago, Myanmar was shocked with news of the rape of a three-year-old girl who has since been given the pseudonym “Victoria”. Victoria was raped at a private nursery home in May. Then in September, she was able to testify through a video conference and identify her rapist.
“When the court showed the girl the picture of the suspects, she was able to point out the individual on the presented picture, and she was so angry seeing these pictures that she stomped angrily at them with her heel,” Victoria’s lawyer was quoted as saying.
News of the rape sparked outrage throughout Myanmar and brought attention to the rising number of rape cases in the country.
In February 2018, Myanmar’s Ministry of Home Affairs released its previous year’s statistics on rape cases. The ministry reported that rape cases rose from 1,100 in 2016 to 1,405 in 2017, which includes a rise in rapes of adult women from 429 to 508 and rapes of underage girls from 671 to 897.
But more than that, the unfortunate tragedy that befell Victoria also helped to highlight the lack of knowledge regarding sex in Myanmar, as well as the urgent need to stop viewing sex education as a taboo topic but as a necessity.
Hla Hla Win, a former English teacher who founded Myanmar-based 360ed, a social enterprise that seeks to revamp education with technology, was recently quoted as saying that the case was “obvious evidence” that the country needed to seriously think of allowing its citizens to be exposed to the right kind of sex education..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of publication:
2019-10-25
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Women's rights
Language:
more
Description:
"Technology could help Myanmar fight a rise in rape cases, says an award-winning entrepreneur who is using augmented reality to bring sex education to the socially conservative country.
The rape in May of a 3-year-old girl at a private nursery has sparked outrage, prompting thousands to take to the streets to demand justice and highlighting a paucity of sex education in the country.
It came as the overall number of rape cases in Myanmar surged from 1,100 in 2016 to more than 1,500 in 2018 — nearly two-thirds involving a child, according to local media quoting government data.
“The case was obvious evidence that we are lacking sex education,” said Hla Hla Win, a former English teacher who founded the Myanmar-based 360ed, a social enterprise that seeks to revamp education with technology.
“It broke the hearts of so many parents but it was also a wake-up call that we can no longer see sex education as a taboo,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.
The 38-year-old Harvard graduate was named one of 40 social entrepreneurs of the year by the World Economic Forum in New York last month for her work in transforming the way hundreds of thousands of students learn in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"The Japan Times" (Japan)
Date of publication:
2019-10-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
more
Description:
"Myanmar has ratified the so-called “child soldier treaty”, the Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.
Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin presented Myanmar’s Instrument of Ratification of the treaty—formally known as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (CRC-OPAC)—to the UN secretary general during the UN Treaty Event of 2019 at the world body’s headquarters in New York on Sept. 27, the ministry said. The instrument was presented via the chief of the UN Office of Legal Affairs.
“The significance of this protocol is that while it bars the states from using children under the age of 18 for military purposes, it also requires states to make sure all armed groups distinct from [state] armed forces ensure there is no military use of children under the age of 18,” said U Aung Myo Min, director of Equality Myanmar. The protocol was adopted by the UN General Assembly on May 25, 2000 and entered into force on Feb. 12, 2002. Myanmar is the 169th country to ratify the protocol. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the ratification as a further significant step toward the protection of child rights..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-10-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-10-02
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: resources and organisations, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms
Language:
more
Description:
"The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Virginia Gamba, congratulates the Government of Myanmar for ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC).
Myanmar’s Union Minister for International Cooperation, His Excellency Mr. U Kyaw Tin, deposited the accession instrument during a ceremony that took place on the margins of the 74th General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York.
“The international engagement taken today by the Government of Myanmar to better protect its children is a welcome step. It is a commitment to put in place all the necessary measures to protect them from recruitment and use by both its armed forces and armed groups active in the country”, said Virginia Gamba.
Provisions on the demobilization and reintegration of all children under 18 and children presumed present in the ranks of Myanmar’s armed forces are also included in OPAC, a commitment already under implementation through the Security Council-mandated Joint Action Plan signed with the United Nations in 2012.
The Special Representative calls on the Government of Myanmar to swiftly translate this commitment into tangible measures for the protection of boys and girls and to end and prevent all six grave violations against children, including the killing and maiming of children and rape and other forms of sexual violence..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of publication:
2019-09-30
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: resources and organisations, Children's rights: standards and mechanisms
Language:
more
Description:
"The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Virginia Gamba, congratulates the Government of Myanmar for ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC).
Myanmar’s Union Minister for International Cooperation, His Excellency Mr. U Kyaw Tin, deposited the accession instrument during a ceremony that took place on the margins of the 74th General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York.
“The international engagement taken today by the Government of Myanmar to better protect its children is a welcome step. It is a commitment to put in place all the necessary measures to protect them from recruitment and use by both its armed forces and armed groups active in the country”, said Virginia Gamba.
Provisions on the demobilization and reintegration of all children under 18 and children presumed present in the ranks of Myanmar’s armed forces are also included in OPAC, a commitment already under implementation through the Security Council-mandated Joint Action Plan signed with the United Nations in 2012.
The Special Representative calls on the Government of Myanmar to swiftly translate this commitment into tangible measures for the protection of boys and girls and to end and prevent all six grave violations against children, including the killing and maiming of children and rape and other forms of sexual violence.
She further recommends the Government of Myanmar to refrain from enrolling children, including on a voluntary basis, into military academies..."
Source/publisher:
UN Office of the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict via Reliefweb
Date of publication:
2019-09-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Human rights issues, UN human rights bodies and mechanisms
Language:
more
Description:
"A 30-year-old tutor has been detained in Mong Yaw, Lashio Township in northern Shan State, after being accused of raping two girls.
A senior police officer in Mong Yaw, who did not want to be named, told The Irrawaddy that the case was being investigated.
“From the interrogation, he told us that he raped the two girls but he could not remember the dates when he did it,” said the police officer.
The suspect will face charges of child rape and kidnapping.
The man was arrested on Sept. 20 after he allegedly raped his wife’s pupil at their house on Sept. 15, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO).
The victim said she had been raped before by the man, according to Pakyoul Jar of TWO, who said she had talked to the families.
The girl told her mother and the school was informed.
TWO said the man gave her a spiked drink and she fell asleep.
The girl reported that she was first raped in 2017 at the school.
TWO said the other victim reported that she was raped by the same tutor in June.
“The two girls did not know they were raped as they were drugged and asleep,” said Pakyoul Jar.
“The police collected the girls’ clothes and took medical tests to be sent to Lashio. They have spoken to witnesses,” she said.
The two victims studied with the suspect’s wife at her home. The man was also a tutor but not a teacher employed by the government, according to TWO..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of publication:
2019-09-26
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Description:
"An eleven-year-old Christian boy is now spending his days studying and playing football in a safe environment, rather than running into the jungle to hide from soldiers and gunfire, a local Barnabas Fund partner in Myanmar told us in August.
“Shein” is just one of 39 Christian children that a Barnabas-supported ministry has helped to escape from war zones or transfer from Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the conflict-ravaged south-east Asian country in 2019.
The children are now living in a safe village that has a school where they can study and churches where they can worship. They are making new friends and sharing their testimonies at local churches, said the Barnabas project partner.
In Shein’s home village there is no school or hospital and in the last month he was there, he was forced to flee three times into the jungle to hide from the Myanmar Army that has turned mainly Christian areas into war zones..."
Source/publisher:
"barnabasfund" (England)
Date of publication:
2019-09-17
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children and armed conflict, Christianity
Language:
more
Description:
"•The UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator a.i., and heads of UNICEF, OCHA, and UNFPA visited Rakhine State from 19 to 21 August 2019 looking at both older, predominantly Rohingya IDP camps and camps for newly displaced.
• UNICEF has carried out 14 humanitarian assistance missions in Rathedaung and Buthidaung Townships in Rakhine State, reaching a total of 5,569 displaced and host community members, including an estimated 2,200 children.
• Distribution of Essential Learning Packages (ELP) and School Kits for crisis-affected children and schools started on 13 August, reaching nearly 9,500 children in central and northern Rakhine State.
• In Kayin and Mon States, UNICEF supported the Government of Myanmar to support more than 16,000 people affected by floods and landslides in August through provision of emergency hygiene supplies including kits and bleaching powder..."
Source/publisher:
"Reliefweb" via UNICEF (USA)
Date of publication:
2019-09-18
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Education in Burma - several ethnic groups, Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.27 MB
more
Sub-title:
A three-year-old girl who it is alleged was raped at her nursery in Myanmar has given evidence via video link at a trial in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw.
Description:
"The case of the toddler, who by law cannot be named, has caused outrage in the country. Campaigners have given her the name "Victoria".
Police say the attack took place in May. A school employee is under arrest charged with raping her.
But DNA evidence has been inconclusive and nursery staff dispute it was him.
Police say a medical examination carried out after Victoria's mother had noticed her injuries and taken her to hospital showed the girl had been sexually assaulted.
'Nursery rape' of toddler leaves Myanmar reeling
There have been widespread protests calling for justice for Victoria and for wider action to arrest an alarming rise in reported sexual assault, particularly towards children.
Myanmar (also called Burma) is still a predominantly rural country and in some communities village elders oversee complaints - the alleged victim can even be encouraged to marry her attacker.
Male rape is not even a recognised crime..."
Source/publisher:
"BBC News"
Date of publication:
2019-09-11
Date of entry/update:
2019-09-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: standards and mechanisms
Language:
more
Sub-title:
Child Rights Law Needs Further Reform, Effective Enforcement
Description:
"After years of discussion and debate, Myanmar has finally enacted a law to protect the rights of children.
Consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Myanmar has ratified, the law defines a child as anyone younger than 18 and provides all children born in Myanmar have the right to birth registration.
This is important, but other shortcomings need to be addressed. Myanmar should revise the law to provide all children with the right to a nationality and not be stateless – therefore, full citizenship rights. The children of parents Myanmar does not recognize as citizens, notably Rohingya Muslims, or who face discriminatory application of the law, such as Kaman Muslims or women trafficked to China, are denied Myanmar citizenship. Without citizenship, children have difficulty entering school, obtaining health care, and traveling inside the country as well as abroad. Those born in Myanmar often will be stateless, which international law tries to prevent..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch"
Date of publication:
2019-08-27
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-28
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Legislation under consideration, adopted, amended or repealed
Language:
more
Description:
''Today’s enactment of the Child Rights Law demonstrates Myanmar’s commendable efforts to align national policies and regulatory frameworks with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that Myanmar ratified in 1991.
Under the newly enacted Child Rights Law, a child is defined as anyone under the age of 18. Today, all children born in Myanmar are guaranteed to the fundamental and unconditional right to register at birth. Birth registration is the first right of the child and a stepping stone to enjoying other rights such as the right to health, education and protection.
With the establishment of a minimum age of marriage (18 years) and to employment (14 years), the value of childhood is recognised and helps allow children be children.
The new chapter on proper regulation of care arrangements puts importance for children’s welfare wherever they reside. Stability and certainty regarding who provides for a child’s basic needs is a necessity to make children feel safe.
All forms of violence against children are prohibited.
The introduction of diversion and alternative mechanisms for children in conflict with the law demonstrates a significant departure from a punitive-focused juvenile justice system to a more child-centred, restorative and rehabilitation-oriented one. It also includes a chapter on the protection and assistance of child victims and witnesses who come into contact with the law.
The law also recognizes that children affected by armed conflict need special protection by criminalizing grave violations against children and providing stronger legal protection for children in the context of armed conflict.
“This landmark step today makes this year’s 30th anniversary of the Convention...''
Source/publisher:
"Progressive Voice" via UNICEF Myanmar
Date of publication:
2019-07-24
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
more
Sub-title:
The ICJ today published a legal briefing (3 pages in Burmese and 2 pages in English) on Myanmar’s Child Rights Bill, which is under consideration by the Union Parliament.
Description:
"The stated objectives of the Child Rights Bill are welcomed, particularly the commitment to implement Myanmar’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
However, based on drafts of the Bill that the ICJ has reviewed, the organization is concerned that if passed into law as presently formulated, the Union Parliament would miss a significant opportunity to protect the rights of those children throughout Myanmar who face discrimination based on race or ethnicity, and who experience human rights violations as a result.
Because the Bill does not sufficiently protect the right of a child to acquire citizenship of Myanmar, the Bill fails to meet its stated objectives, and also fails to comply with and implement the State’s international human rights law obligations under the CRC.
The ICJ provides a recommendation for legislators to amend the Bill before it is passed into law, in order to sufficiently protect the rights of a child to acquire citizenship/nationality, and to implement the State’s obligations under the CRC..."
Date of publication:
2019-07-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-08-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
28.8 KB 54.15 KB
more
Sub-title:
The ICJ today published a legal briefing (3 pages in Burmese and 2 pages in English) on Myanmar’s Child Rights Bill, which is under consideration by the Union Parliament.
Description:
"The stated objectives of the Child Rights Bill are welcomed, particularly the commitment to implement Myanmar’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
However, based on drafts of the Bill that the ICJ has reviewed, the organization is concerned that if passed into law as presently formulated, the Union Parliament would miss a significant opportunity to protect the rights of those children throughout Myanmar who face discrimination based on race or ethnicity, and who experience human rights violations as a result.
Because the Bill does not sufficiently protect the right of a child to acquire citizenship of Myanmar, the Bill fails to meet its stated objectives, and also fails to comply with and implement the State’s international human rights law obligations under the CRC.
The ICJ provides a recommendation for legislators to amend the Bill before it is passed into law, in order to sufficiently protect the rights of a child to acquire citizenship/nationality, and to implement the State’s obligations under the CRC..."
Source/publisher:
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) via Progressive Voice
Date of publication:
2019-07-09
Date of entry/update:
2019-07-12
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
28.79 KB 54.15 KB
more
Description:
"Dear UNICEF partners,
As Myanmar writes a new chapter in its history, and
as the World adopts its Sustainable Development
Goals agenda, UNICEF Myanmar‘s report for 2015
“Delivering Results for Children” is an opportunity
to reflect on progress and results within the 2011-
2017 Programme of Cooperation between the
Government of the Union of Myanmar and UNICEF.
This year, the cooperation has been driven by three main considerations: 1/ the
importance of turning policies and plans into tangible changes in children’s lives,
as longer term reforms proceed; 2/ the need to respond to humanitarian needs
- arising from protracted situations and from the massive floods and landslides
that affected the country, while further mainstreaming risk reductions strategies into
development plans; and 3/ the central place of children in determining factors for
Myanmar’s sustainable development - peace, social cohesion, and human rights.
Releases of children and young people from the armed forces have continued,
with more than 146 released this year alone, and falling one child short of the 700
mark since the signing of the Joint Action Plan in 2012. In targeted townships,
the proportion of children aged 3-5 years accessing early childhood facilities
increased to 37.5% in 2015 from 17% in 2014. More than 95% of children aged 9
to 15 (approximately 13 million) were protected from measles and rubella through
vaccination campaigns. More than 280,000 children in 27 townships benefitted from
the first ever deployment of social work case managers. The proportion of children
under 5 registered continued to increase, reaching 79% in 2015..."
Bertrand Bainvel
Source/publisher:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
Date of publication:
2015-12-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Public Health, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.66 MB
more
Description:
UNICEF together with the Ministry of Health and Sports and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation convened key representatives from national Government, Yangon and Mandalay Municipalities, several universities, development partners, donors and UN agencies to take stock of the current situation and to chart a way forward with practical solutions to address the increasingly serious health concerns from indoor and outdoor air pollution in Myanmar.
Outdoor and indoor air pollution are directly linked with pneumonia and other respiratory diseases that account for almost 1 in 10 deaths among children under the age of five globally, making air pollution one of the leading concerns for children’s health. In Myanmar, almost all rural households use highly polluting biomass for cooking. Additionally, smog-forming emissions from old vehicles and the burning of waste (household, industrial, agricultural, etc.) deteriorate the air quality in urban areas. Acute respiratory infection is one of the most common childhood illnesses and the third leading cause of death for children under five. The most recent data shows that 62 per cent of child deaths from acute lower respiratory infections in Myanmar can be attributed to indoor air pollution. For children under the age of five, household air pollution is the fourth-highest risk factor behind low birth weight, childhood underweight, and suboptimal breastfeeding.
“With rapid development already occurring, it is important to address air pollution in Myanmar for the health and safety of Myanmar’s people. We have immediate choices before us to develop sustainably and with adequate consideration to our environment,” said Dr. Maung Maung Soe, Mayor of Yangon City, in his opening remarks. “We need effective partnerships—public and private—international, national, municipal, and local—to build on the momentum growing and fill the critical gaps urgently.”
The East Asia and Pacific region is home to some 4.3 million children under the age of five living in areas where outdoor air pollution exceeds six times the international limits set by the World Health Organization. While some countries are making progress, most face critical challenges in their fight against air pollution due to the lack of availability and use of quality data on air quality and health impacts and cross-sectoral mechanisms to develop and implement clean air solutions that meet the needs of children and most vulnerable populations.
Sharing the experience of actions taken in Mongolia to address the air pollution crisis in that country, UNICEF’s Representative to Mongolia, Alex Heikens, outlined effective areas of effort to reduce the impact of air pollution on children: mitigating the immediate health impacts while reducing specific causes of pollution sustainably; reducing exposure through awareness raising in communities and schools; and strengthening health services.
The potential for youth engagement as agents of change was also highlighted by students who have been involved in the new bottom-up air quality monitoring around Yangon. Connect University students have taken the issue into their own hands by contributing data that has alerted the community on high levels of pollution that people were previously not aware of without the monitoring.
Source/publisher:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
Date of publication:
2019-05-20
Date of entry/update:
2019-06-09
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Public Health
Language:
English
more
Description:
''During the month of January, UNICEF continued to support children in IDP camps in central Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States across sectors. UNICEF and partners are providing mental health and psycho-social support to nearly 13,000 people in Rakhine State, the majority of whom are in areas of northern Rakhine. Over 20,000 children, aged 3 to 17 years continue to access UNICEF-supported learning opportunities.
In January, UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore visited Myanmar and advocated on the urgent need to grant agencies unfettered humanitarian access, and to expand the coverage and quality of basic services for all children; including in rural areas and those affected by conflict. In Rakhine state, she saw first-hand how children from different communities bear the scars of violence and communal tensions. However, access to conflict-affected rural townships in Northern Rakhine remains suspended for UNICEF and some 20 other humanitarian actors despite increased advocacy with both State and Union representatives.
For its 2019 response, UNICEF has set activity targets aimed at ensuring that all children in need of humanitarian assistance as identified in the 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) are reached; including those not currently being reached by other partners. As such, to reach all targeted children, UNICEF requires over US$59 million in 2019, nearly double the required amount in 2018. No funding has been received in 2019 to date...''
Source/publisher:
reliefweb
Date of publication:
2019-02-15
Date of entry/update:
2019-02-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Refugees from Burma: general reports, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.06 MB
more
Description:
''In 2018, UNICEF extended lifesaving services to over 1.2 million people affected by the crisis. This included 380,000 people provided with access to safe drinking water; 20,000 children under 5 treated for severe acute malnutrition; and 1,235,475 people over 1 year old who received oral cholera vaccine.
More than half of Rohingya refugee children aged 4 to 14 have now been engaged in non-formal basic education by UNICEF and the Education Sector. UNICEF reached 145,209 Rohingya children in 2018 with support from 4,028 trained teachers.
UNICEF and the Department of Social Services launched an integrated case management and cash assistance programme in June 2018, benefitting 4,200 children and 3,000 foster caregivers.
Comprehensive preparedness and mitigation measures taken with both government and NGO partners in advance of the monsoon in June 2018 resulted in no major epidemics or outbreaks. Actions such as chlorination of water points, intensive C4D messaging, relocating at-risk facilities and establishing mechanisms to reunite children separated during extreme rain, were some of the measures taken...''
Source/publisher:
Reliefweb
Date of publication:
1970-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Discrimination against the Rohingya, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
237.57 KB
more
Description:
''Another year has drawn to a close and the global calls for the end of violence against women and girls which occur every November 25th on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women are still fresh in our minds. It led us here at the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM) to reflect on the progress (or lack thereof) we have seen over the past year in Burma in protecting and promoting the rights of women and young girls.
What we have seen has been dissatisfying to say the least. Official police statistics and community-based organizations (CBOs) continue to report an upward trend in reports of sexual violence against both women and children, and the increase in the number of reported cases involving children is particularly troublesome. In February, the Ministry of Home Affairs released crime statistics for 2017, which showed that 1,405 rapes were reported across Burma in 2017, including 897 cases against children—an increase of over 33% from the previous year...''
Janeen Sawatzky
Source/publisher:
TEACIRCLEOXFORD
Date of publication:
2019-01-14
Date of entry/update:
2019-01-26
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Women's rights, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma
Language:
English
more
Description:
[Briefing for the UN Secretary General?s Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict - March 2016]
"Myanmar?s November 2015 Parliamentary election resulted in a sweeping victory for the National League of Democracy (NLD), generating hopes that the new NLD-led government will
bring about a demonstrable improvement in the country?s human rights situation. Child Soldiers International has documented the widespread recruitment and use of children as soldiers in Myanmar for over a decade, and believes that the new government needs to make a renewed commitment to ensure that the Tatmadaw Kyi (Myanmar military) becomes a child-free army.
Almost four years since the UN and the Myanmar government signed a Joint Action Plan (JAP) to end the recruitment and use of children in June 2012, children continue to be present in the ranks of the Tatmadaw Kyi as well as non-state armed groups (NSAGs), although recent trends
indicate that active recruitment of children by the Tatmadaw kyi appears to have significantly reduced. The Tatmadaw Kyi discharged 146 children in three separate releases in 2015, and a further 46 on 12 March 2016, bringing the total number of children discharged since the signing of the JAP to 745. Due to an absence of comprehensive monitoring, it is not currently possible
to determine the number of children present in the ranks of the Border Guard Forces (BGF). However, the BGF discharged one child in 2015, indicating that other children may also remain in the ranks.
Nonetheless, children continue to be unlawfully recruited into the Tatmadaw Kyi; 210 cases of ?suspected minors” were reported by the Country Task Force for Monitoring and Reporting (CTFMR) for age verification in 2015. The CTFMR received complaints on these cases through its public phone line, the forced labour complaint mechanism of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and community monitoring initiatives. Ongoing armed conflict in Kachin
and Shan states, related insecurity and high levels of attrition have ensured that the Tatmadaw Kyi is under pressure to maintain its troop strength, thereby necessitating ongoing recruitment, including of children.
Child Soldiers International also received reports of increased recruitment by NSAGs, including of children, in the backdrop of escalating conflict between the Tatmadaw Kyi and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Shan State Progressive Party / Shan State Army North, and the
Palaung State Liberation Front / Ta?ang National Liberation Army (TNLA); and between joint Myanmar military-Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army South forces and the
TNLA since September 2015.
This ?recruitment economy? has contributed to the creation of a network of informal recruitment agents (civilian brokers), who receive payments for delivering new recruits to the Tatmadaw Kyi. Over the course of 2015, the use of civilian brokers continued to be reported with no movement
to clarify the legal avenues to hold civilian brokers accountable. It has also generated pressure on 2
recruiting officers to ignore national legal restrictions of the minimum recruitment age, in a context where adults are unwilling to volunteer and where accountability mechanisms designed to deter underage recruitment have been lax. Despite welcome measures to spread greater awareness about the unlawfulness of underage recruitment, including through the operationalising of a more centralised system for recruitment, children continue to be among those forcibly recruited, and remain easier to trick and more susceptible to pressure to enlist than adults. Where children from economically deprived or troubled backgrounds have volunteered for enlistment, the absence of rigorous enforcement of safeguards has facilitated their
recruitment..."
Source/publisher:
Child Soldiers International
Date of publication:
2016-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-04-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
217.75 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Khaing Hla Pyaint is an incredibly determined young Arakanese man who decided that whatever it takes, he will work for his country and help his people. On a long journey from Arakan State near Bangladeshi border to the Thai border town of Mae Sot, Khaing Hla Pyaint experienced deportation, imprisonment, and torture, until he could finally reach his goal and become a soldier in the jungles of Karen State. Despite the hardship, Khaing Hla Pyaint has never regretted the choices he has made. Why was he so determined to work for his country? How did his childhood experiences and further education make him realise he wants to help his people? Read the second part of the unbelievable story of this young dedicated soldier and learn how he feels about the root causes of the conflict, and how he thinks the international community and donors can promote change instead of funding more arms and training for the Burma Army."...See the Alternate link for part 2.
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of publication:
2013-12-09
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Rakhine (Arakanese) - cultural, political, Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Child labour in Burma, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Thazun is a courageous, beautiful and talented young Arakanese woman who talks openly about her life and experiences. Spending her childhood under conditions that many people around the world would find hard to believe, Thazun has never given up hope for a better life. Her father is a politician and always on the run from Burmese authorities, while her mother worked away for years with hundreds of other forced labourers. When growing up, Thazun didn?t know her father, and for over two years, five-year-old Thazun and her sister and brothers were left to survive on their own without their mother or anyone to look after them. When their mother was able to visit them, she found her children almost starved to death. And yet Thazun?s mother had no choice but to leave, unable to help her children or even know if they were still alive. As heartbreaking as her story may be, Thazun shows how determination and hope can lead towards light. This is the first part of her story."..."Thazun?s story is based on an interview with Burma Link."
Source/publisher:
Burma Link
Date of entry/update:
2016-03-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Women of Burma -- bibliographies, Children, Non-ILO Reports on forced labour, including forced portering, in Arakan (Rakhine) State, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Research by the Women and Child Rights Project (WCRP) has demonstrated that grave violations of children?s rights continue to occur in southern Burma despite the creation, by the United Nations, of the Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) pursuant to United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1612 on Children and Armed Conflict passed in 2005.
The Burmese government has failed to meet the time-bound action plan under Resolution 1612, demonstrated by the fact that WCRP researchers found numerous accounts of ?grave violations? under United Nations Security Council?s Resolution 1612 on children and armed conflict. These violations, committed by Burmese soldiers against children in southern Burma, include recruitment of child soldiers, killing and maiming, rape and sexual abuse, and forced labor. Though the Burmese government agreed to the implementation of a monitoring and reporting mechanism (MRM), pursuant to Resolution 1612, to report on instances of these grave violations, WCRP has found that abuses have continued unabated since 2005.
The data detailed below provide evidence of widespread and systematic abuses, the vast majority of which were committed by soldiers from the Tatmadaw, the Burmese military. These confirmed cases of grave violations, taken from just 15 villages in two townships, committed over a period of 5 years, suggest that the Burmese government has failed to live up to its obligations under international law to protect children during situations of armed conflict. Limitations imposed by the Burmese government on the UN country team has made it difficult for them to receive, or verify, accounts of grave violations, in turn preventing the MRM from making a noticeable impact on the continued widespread abuse of children in southern Burma. WCRP?s data strongly suggests that the real numbers of abuses against children is vastly greater than officially recognized.
Additionally, despite the fact that WCRP?s primary research covered only the period from 2005 through November 2010, recent updated reports suggest that all of the violations documented by WCRP have continued to occur over the course of the past year. Despite the political changes that may be underway in Naypyidaw, children in areas where armed conflict is ongoing continue to suffer grave violations. Thus, the international community must take further action to ensure that the MRM can effectively protect the rights of Burma?s children and realize the objective put forth in Resolution 1612, an end to the grave violations of children?s rights..."
Source/publisher:
Woman and Child Rights Project (WCRP)
Date of publication:
2012-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2012-01-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children and armed conflict, Childrens's rights in Mon State - reports of violations, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Women and Child Rights Project, home page, articles and reports, HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.1 MB
more
Description:
"...A large segment of Burma?s population is made up of children, with 42% under the age of 18 years. While according to traditional culture children are valued and cherished in Burma, the ruling military dictatorship does not regard children?s development and welfare as a priority. As Burma became a signatory party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 15 August 1991, they are bound to uphold its mandates. The CRC affirms that every child has the right to protection, the right to life, and the right to survival and development. The CRC also specifically refers to the protection of children in armed conflict and mandates that no child under 15 should take part in hostilities; that children should not be separated from their parents except for their own well-being; that States should protect children from harm and neglect; and that all children should be entitled to the rights enshrined in the convention, without discrimination The SPDC, (then SLORC) established a new Child Law on 14 July 1993, in order to "implement the rights of the child recognized in the Convention." The child law states, "The State recognized that every child has the right to survival, development, protection and care, and to achieve active participation in the community." (Chapter 5, paragraph 8) However there is striking evidence that the SPDC continually flouts both the CRC and their own Child Law.
Almost half of the state budget is allocated to the army, despite the fact that the country is not exposed to any external threats, leaving very little for the vital education and health care systems. Decades of military mismanagement of the economy has resulted in a catastrophic economic situation and is forcing the vast majority of parents to rely on the contribution of their children working in order to feed their families. The worst forms of child labor ? whether in the army, the construction industry, domestic work, the mines or elsewhere ? are present throughout Burma. Children are by no means exempt from the forced labor imposed on hundreds of thousands of the Burmese population by the Tatmadaw or armed forces. Moreover, the SPDC continues unabated to forcibly recruit children into the army, some as young as eleven years old. Boys are not the only ones exposed to abuse by the military as young girls are frequently forced to serve as porters and sexual slaves for army troops.
Ethnic minority children are often more vulnerable to abuse due to the fact that the on-going civil war is often fought in ethnic minority areas. In addition to contending with the discrepancy between access to social services available to the military and civilian populations, ethnic minorities face the more direct consequences of internal conflict. Children living in ethnic minority areas, like other members of their communities, continued to be subjected to physical injury, torture, rape, murder, forced labor, and forced relocation. Children in these areas were also forced to witness atrocities carried out against their family and community members; to endure separation from their families and communities; and to suffer from extremely limited access to health care, education, housing, and food. There can be no improvement in the situation for the children of Burma without a radical change in the government and progress towards democracy..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2004-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Format :
htm
Size:
196.74 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
Years of ongoing civil war and poor governance have led to widespread poverty, low levels of education, poor healthcare, and systematic human rights abuses. Children, who comprise approximately 40% of the population, are disproportionately affected by all of these factors. Decreased government spending on education has resulted in the deterioration of standards of primary education, which have coincided with increased illiteracy and dropout rates. Likewise, lack of spending on healthcare has resulted in Burma?s healthcare system being ranked 190 out of 191 countries by the World Health Organization in 2000. According to UNICEF, of the 1.3 million children born every year in Burma, more than 92,500 will die before they reach one year of age. The majority of infant mortality has been attributed to insufficient medical knowledge and attention. As poverty has consumed the population, children are frequently required to contribute to their family?s livelihood either by participating in family businesses, seeking external employment, or fulfilling a family?s obligations to participate in government forced labor projects. Children are not exempted from serving as porters for the military or being recruited to serve in the armed forces, fighting against ethnic minority populations and forced to perpetrate human rights abuses themselves.
Ethnic minority children are often more vulnerable due to the fact that ongoing civil war is fought in ethnic minority areas. In addition to contending with the discrepancy between access to social services available to the military and civilian populations, ethnic minorities face the more direct consequences of internal conflict. Children living in ethnic minority areas, like other members of their communities, continued to be subjected to physical injury, torture, rape, murder, forced labor, and forced relocation as the government attempts to suppress any opposition, both armed and unarmed. Children in these areas are also forced to witness atrocities carried out against their family and community members; to endure separation from their families and communities; and to suffer from extremely limited access to healthcare, education, housing, and food. There can be no improvement in the situation for the children of Burma without a radical change in the government and progress towards democracy.
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2005-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
229.73 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"...Years of ongoing civil war and poor governance have led to widespread poverty, low levels of education, poor healthcare, and systematic human rights abuses. Children, who comprise approximately 40 percent of the population, are disproportionately affected by all of these factors. Decreased national spending on education has resulted in the deterioration of the quality of primary education, coinciding with increased illiteracy and dropout rates. Similarly, lack of spending on healthcare has resulted in Burma?s healthcare system being ranked 190 out of 191 countries by the World Health Organization in 2000. According to UNICEF, of the 1.3 million children born every year in Burma, more than 92,500 will die before they reach age one. The majority of infant mortality has been attributed to insufficient medical knowledge and services. As poverty has consumed the population, children are frequently required to contribute to their family?s livelihood either by participating in family businesses, seeking external employment, or fulfilling a family?s obligations to participate in regime forced labor projects. Children are not exempted from serving as porters for the military or being recruited to serve in the armed forces.
Ethnic minority children are particularly vulnerable, not only suffering from severe discrimination but also suffering from the consequences of protracted armed conflict. Children living in ethnic minority areas, like other members of their communities, are subject to physical injury, torture, rape, murder, forced labor, and forced relocation as the SPDC attempts to suppress any opposition, both armed and unarmed. Children in these areas also often witness atrocities carried out against their family and community members; endure separation from their families and communities; and suffer from extremely limited access to healthcare, education, housing, and food. There can be no improvement in the situation for the children of Burma without a radical change in the regime and progress towards democracy..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2006-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
134.89 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"...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..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2008-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-15
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
658.78 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Children comprise a highly vulnerable segment of any society and this is especially the case
in a country marred by conflict, such as Burma. In the case of Burma especially, children
form a large percentage of the total population, with UNICEF estimating the under-18
population of Burma to be 15,772,000 out of a total population of 48,379,000 in 2006. Thus,
children comprise around 33 percent of the people of Burma.1 Despite Burma having ratified
the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991 under the then ruling State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the rights of children in Burma today remain as tenuous
as ever. Over the course of 2008, various civil society actors such as exile media and
International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) provided accounts of the rights of
children being violated both in urban and rural environments. The CRC states clearly that
children require ?special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection.” This
proved to be a luxury that was not afforded to Burma?s children over the course of 2008.
The Burmese regime was furthermore in breach of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR) in its treatment of the rights of children throughout the year, in another
example of the State Peace and Development Council showing scant concern for either the
rights of its citizenry or for the stipulations of international law.
Patterns of abuse in Burma are strongly connected to patterns of military control, thus the
nature of abuse which children face in Burma largely depends on the extent to which they
live under State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military control. For those living
under consolidated SPDC control, the intensive militarisation of Burmese society, which
relies on abusive mechanisms of civilian control and exploitation of their resources,
undermines almost every aspect of children?s rights. Militarisation requires extensive
national budgetary spending on the military. Such expenditures come at the expense of
other areas, such as health and education. According to figures released by the
International Institute for Strategic Studies in 2007, the SPDC was spending around 40
percent of the national budget on the military, opposed to 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent on
health and education respectively..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Docmentation Unit (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2009-11-23
Date of entry/update:
2009-12-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.23 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
Was die Ausbeutung Minderjähriger angeht, ist Myanmar die unangefochtene Nummer eins. Ein Gespräch mit Ralf Willinger, Referent für Kinderrechte bei terre des hommes, Rolle der Kindersoldaten bei den Aufständen 2007; Rekrutierung von Kindersoldaten; gesetzliche Regelungen zu Kindersoldaten; Interview with Ralf Willinger; Role of child-soldiers during the uprisings 2007; recruitment of child soldiers; laws and reglementations on child soldiers
Helen Sibum
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International / Terre des Hommes
Date of publication:
2007-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2008-05-27
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
German, Deutsch
more
Description:
Introduction;
Children in Armed Conflict:
Violence against Children;
Abduction of Children...
Child Soldiers:
Child Soldiers in Armed Ethnic Groups;
Conscription of Child Soldiers...
Sexual Assault against Children...
Right to Education:
Education in Ethnic Minority and Conflict Areas;
Gender Equality...
Right to Health:
Children and HIV/AIDS...
Arrest and Detention of Children:
Children in Prison with Their Mothers...
Child Labour:
Children and Forced Labour...
Child Trafficking.
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB (HRDU)
Date of publication:
2007-06-25
Date of entry/update:
2007-07-13
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2006 -- pdf versions of individual chapters, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
464.78 KB 7.17 MB
Local URL:
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB)
Date of publication:
2004-06-00
Date of entry/update:
2005-02-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Human Rights Education
Language:
Burmese/ မြန်မာဘာသာ
Format :
pdf
Size:
2.95 MB
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
1997-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-12-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1996, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
PDF
Size:
40.17 KB
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
1998-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1997-1998, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
PDF
Size:
34.36 KB
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
1999-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1998-1999, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
PDF
Size:
30.74 KB
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
2000-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1999-2000, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
PDF
Size:
28.61 KB
more
Description:
"...Burma has seen almost constant conflict since independence from Britain in 1948. Internal civil war and poor governance has brought about widespread poverty, poor health care, low educational standards and systematic human rights abuses. Children, who are among the most vulnerable members of society, have been disproportionately affected by all these factors. Decreasing levels of government spending on education have caused standards of primary education to deteriorate, with corresponding rises in illiteracy and drop out rates. At present, it is estimated that less than 50% of all school-aged children in Burma attend school. Paradoxically, government military spending has grown to consume over 40% of the national budget. According to the US Department of State, the SPDC?s spending education is less than 1% of the GDP and spending on health is less than .3% of the GDP (source: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US State Department). The World Health Organization?s 2000 report rated Burma?s healthcare system 190th overall, out of 191 countries surveyed. The regime?s failure to invest in children has had direct and visible consequences. According to UNICEF, out of the 1.3 million children born every year in Burma, more than 92,500 will die before they are one year old. Another 138,000 children will die before they reach the age of five.
Children in Burma are also increasingly vulnerable to exploitation for dangerous labor. Approximately one quarter of children between the ages of 10-14 are engaged in paid work and there are a growing number of street children in concentrated urban areas. (Source: ICRC, 2002) In particular, street children, runaways and orphans are particularly vulnerable to forced recruitment into the armed forces. The SPDC is believed to be one of the world?s largest single users of child soldiers with more than 70,000 children serving in the national army alone. In addition, some armed opposition forces also recruit children, but in smaller numbers (source: Human Rights Watch, 2002). Burmese children are also victimized when forced into the sex industry, and the trafficking of children has become increasingly prevalent throughout the country, and especially in border areas.
Ethnic minority children are often more vulnerable to abuse due to the fact that civil war is often drawn along ethnic lines and fought in ethnic minority areas. In addition to contending with the discrepancy between access to social services available to the military and civilian populations, ethnic minorities face the more direct consequences of internal conflict. Throughout 2002 children living in ethnic minority areas, like other members of their communities, continued to be subjected to physical injury, torture, rape, murder, forced labor, and forced relocation. Children in these areas were also forced to witness atrocities carried out against their family and community members; to endure separation from their families and communities; and to suffer from extremely limited access to health care, education, housing, and food..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
2003-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-11-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
115.24 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Ce rapport se concentre sur la situation des enfants birmans en Birmanie et dans leur principal pays d?exil, la Thaïlande. Il fait suite à deux voyages effectués en Thaïlande et en Birmanie pour y rencontrer des dizaines d?intervenants dans le domaine de l?enfance : parents, enfants, enseignants, médecins, syndicats, ONG, etc. Nous avons aussi eu l?occasion, tant en Birmanie qu?en Thaïlande, de visiter plusieurs hôpitaux, écoles et usines où travaillent des enfants. La plupart de nos interlocuteurs ont demandé de ne pas les citer nommément dans ce rapport car ils craignent pour leur sécurité. Nous les remercions tous pour le temps qu?ils ont bien voulu nous accorder, avec une reconnaissance toute particulière pour les personnes qui, en Birmanie même, ont pris des risques pour nous montrer la réalité de leur pays."
Samuel Grumiau
Source/publisher:
Confederation International des syndicats libres (CISL)
Date of publication:
2003-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-09-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general
Language:
Francais, French
more
Description:
The situation facing children
after 41 years of
military rule in Burma...
Some facts and figures on Burma;
Historical background: 41 years of dictatorship;
Standard of living in Burma;
Children in Burma:
1) Education;
2) Child labour;
3) Forced child labour 18;
4) Health 19:
Burmese children in Thailand;
1) Burmese people in Thailand;
2) Education of Burmese children in Thailand;
3) Child labour;
4) Health;
Burmese children in Bangladesh;
Conclusions.
Samuel Grumiau
Source/publisher:
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
Date of publication:
2003-08-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-08-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general
Language:
English
more
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit of the NCGUB
Date of publication:
1995-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma Human Rights Yearbook 1994, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
17.12 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"On April 23, 1999, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution deploring the "continuing violations of the
rights of children, in particular through the lack of conformity of the existing legal framework with the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, through conscription of children into forced labor programs, through their military and sexual
exploitation and through discrimination against children belonging to ethnic and religious minority groups." There is little
reason to believe that the situation has changed since then. According to UNICEF, out of the 1.3 million children born in
Myanmar every year, 92,500 die before their first birthday and 1:3 children under 5 are malnourished and almost half of all
children get no education. While national laws to protect children are in place, little is done to enforce them, and exploitative
and dangerous forms of child labor had been widely reported, including work on infrastructure development projects, in military
support operations, as child soldiers, and in the sex industry. The military government continues to prioritize strengthening the
military over improving the education system and there are dramatic differences between the quality of education received by
civilian children and the children of the military..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication:
2001-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm htm
Size:
100.65 KB 6.04 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"...while national laws to protect children may be in place, little is done to enforce them. Exploitative
and dangerous forms of child labor have been widely reported, including working on infrastructure development projects, in
military support operations, as child soldiers and in the sex industry. The military government continues to prioritize
strengthening the military over improving the heath and education systems the civilian population has little or no access to quality
health and education services. In a 2000 report the United Sates Department of Labor cited the SPDC?s apparent lack of
commitment to primary education and widespread poverty as factors contributing to child labor in Burma. Almost half of all
children get no education. According to UNICEF, out of 1.3 million children born in Burma every year, 92,500 die before their
first birthday and 1 in 3 children under 5 are malnourished. .."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Documentation Unit, NCGUB
Date of publication:
2002-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
80.58 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
CRC/C/8/Add.9.
Source/publisher:
United Nations
Date of publication:
1995-09-18
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: standards and mechanisms
Language:
English
more
Description:
CRC Fourteenth session. Initial report of Myanmar
Source/publisher:
United Nations
Date of publication:
1997-01-15
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
CRC Fourteenth session. Initial report of Myanmar
Source/publisher:
United Nations
Date of publication:
1997-01-15
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
Submitted as an Alternative Report to the CRC. Burma acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991. Since then, however, there has been little progress towards the implementation of the convention, and the underlying problems which impede implementation have not changed. These include a total lack of the rule of law and accountability of the government, as well as draconian restrictions on freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly which prevent local reporting and monitoring of the human rights situation of children. Events of October and December1996 in Burma, which saw hundreds of high school and university students take to the streets to demand the protection of their rights, especially the right to form student unions, highlight the urgent need for reform. Over three hundred students and youths were arrested during the December demonstrations, at least fifty of whom remain unaccounted for. . .
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
1997-01-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, NGO submissions to the CRC on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
more
Description:
"[This report was prepared as a submission to the UN Committee which is reviewing SLORC?s observance of the Convention on Rights of the Child, which SLORC ratified in 1991. Under the terms of the Convention, SLORC was required to submit a report to the Committee in 1993, but did not do so until September 1995. Their case comes before the Committee in Oct. 1996 or Jan. 1997. This report was submitted together with a 140-page Annex of excerpts from KHRG reports relating to children. It is reproduced here for general use.]
This summary is intended for consideration by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. It has been prepared partly in response to the report filed by the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Burma?s ruling military junta. It does not contain a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of SLORC?s report, but instead attempts to summarize some of the worst problems facing Burma?s children today and point out some of the most glaring fallacies in the SLORC report. All of the observations and quotations included here are taken from our 4 years of living among and interviewing villagers, refugees and the internally displaced.
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..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG Articles and Papers)
Date of publication:
1996-05-01
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, NGO submissions to the CRC on Burma/Myanmar
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
115.54 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
"Burma is believed to have more child soldiers than any other country in the world. The overwhelming majority of Burma's child soldiers are found in Burma's national army, the Tatmadaw Kyi, which forcibly recruits children as young as eleven. These children are subject to beatings and systematic humiliation during training. Once deployed, they must engage in combat, participate in human rights abuses against civilians, and are frequently beaten and abused by their commanders and cheated of their wages. Refused contact with their families and facing severe reprisals if they try to escape, these children endure a harsh and isolated existence.
Children are also present in Burma's myriad opposition groups, although in far smaller numbers. Some children join opposition groups to avenge past abuses by Burmese forces against members of their families or community, while others are forcibly conscripted. Many participate in armed conflict, sometimes with little or no training, and after years of being a soldier are unable to envision a future for themselves apart from military service. Burma's military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), claims that all of its soldiers are volunteers, and that the minimum recruitment age is eighteen.4 However, testimonies of former soldiers interviewed for this report suggest that the vast majority of new recruits are forcibly conscripted, and that 35 to 45 percent may be children. Although there is no way to establish precise figures, data taken from the observations of former child soldiers who have served in diverse parts of Burma suggests that 70,000 or more of the Burma army's estimated 350,000 soldiers may be children..."
Kevin Heppner
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch
Date of publication:
2002-10-16
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Army, Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children and armed conflict
Language:
English
more
Description:
Extracts on children from the Report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed under article 26 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization to examine the
observance by Myanmar of the
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
Source/publisher:
ILO Commission of Inquiry
Date of publication:
1998-07-02
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma) Report of the ILO Commission of Inquiry, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Governing Body of the International Labour Office (English)
Language:
English
Format :
htm
Size:
536.52 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
2 minute 37 second extract from a film by Ellen Bruno. "Screened at Sundance, the film examines the social, cultural and economic forces at work in the trafficking of Burmese girls into prostitution in Thailand. The site also has linked resources - organisations, films, publications, calls to action etc.
Ellen Bruno
Source/publisher:
.brunofilms
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Migrants' rights: reports of violations, Trafficking: Burma-specific material
Language:
English, Thai
more
Description:
Recruitment • Roles And Duties • Treatment and experiences. They are about 13 or 15 years old, wear army uniforms and carry war weapons. By all other measures they are still children, but it is not war games they play. Burmese history is full of stories of different kings at war with each other and the modern period since 1948 -- when the British surrendered their colonial rule -- has been little different. Almost from the day the British lowered the Union Jack, Burma has been home to a continuous civil war described by some observers as one of the most complicated conflicts in the world.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 5. No. 6
Date of publication:
1997-09-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children and armed conflict, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Army
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Are young Burmese girls working in the brothels of Thailand victims or players in the lucrative sex trade? Perhaps a look at two typical cases can shed light on this question..."
Aung Zaw in Mae Sai, Chiang Mai & Min Zin in Ranong
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy", Vol. 9. No. 2
Date of publication:
2001-02-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Discrimination/violence against women: reports of violations in Burma, Trafficking: Burma-specific material, Sex work
Language:
English
more
Description:
1. Introduction;
1.1. Background;
1.2. Project Profile;
1.3. Project Objectives;
2. The Participatory Action Research (PAR) Process;
2.1. Methods of Working with Migrant Children and Youth;
2.2. Implementation Strategy;
2.3. Ethical Considerations;
2.4. Research Team;
2.5. Sites and Participants;
2.6. Establishing Research Guidelines;
2.7. Data Collection Tools;
2.8. Documentation;
2.9. Translation;
2.10Country and Regional Workshops;
2.11Analysis, Methods of Reporting Findings and Dissemination Strategy;
2.12. Obstacles and Limitations;
3. PAR Interventions;
3.1. Strengthening Social Structures;
3.2. Awareness Raising;
3.3. Capacity Building;
3.4. Life Skills Development;
3.5. Outreach Services;
3.6. Networking and Advocacy;
4. The Participatory Review;
4.1. Aims of the Review;
4.2. Review Guidelines;
4.3. Review Approach and Tools;
4.4. Summary of Review Outcomes;
4.4.1. Myanmar;
4.4.2. Thailand;
4.4.3. China;
5. Conclusion and Recommendations;
6. Bibliography of Resources.
Therese Caouette et al
Source/publisher:
Save the Children (UK)
Date of publication:
2001-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-04-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Children, Migrant children and youth, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles, Migrants' rights: reports of violations, Child labour in Burma, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Trafficking: Burma-specific material, Ethnic groups in Burma: general studies and articles, Burmese and other stateless people in Thailand and Malaysia
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
191.33 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
A Participatory Action Research Project
of Save the Children(UK)...
1. Introduction;
2. Background;
2.1. Population;
2.2. Geography;
2.3. Political Dimensions;
2.4. Economic Dimensions;
2.5. Social Dimensions;
2.6. Vulnerability of Children and Youth;
3. Research Design;
3.1. Project Objectives;
3.2. Ethical Considerations;
3.3. Research Team;
3.4. Research Sites and Participants;
3.5. Data Collection Tools;
3.6. Data Analysis Strategy;
3.7. Obstacles and Limitations;
4. Preliminary Research Findings;
4.1. The Migrants;
4.2. Reasons for migrating;
4.3. Channels of Migration;
4.4. Occupations;
4.5. Working and Living Conditions;
4.6. Health;
4.7. Education;
4.8. Drugs;
4.9. Child Labour;
4.10. Trafficking of Persons;
4.11. Vulnerabilities of Children;
4.12. Return and Reintegration;
4.13. Community Responses;
5. Conclusion and Recommendations...
Recommendations to empower migrant children and youth in the Mekong sub-region...
"This report provides an awareness of the realities and perspectives among migrant children, youth and their communities, as a means of building respect and partnerships to address their vulnerabilities to exploitation and abusive environments. The needs and concerns of migrants along the borders of China, Myanmar and Thailand are highlighted and recommendations to address these are made.
The main findings of the participatory action research include:
* those most impacted by migration are the peoples along the mountainous border areas between China, Myanmar and Thailand, who represent a variety of ethnic groups
* both the countries of origin and countries of destination find that those migrating are largely young people and often include children
* there is little awareness as to young migrants' concerns and needs, with extremely few interventions undertaken to reach out to them
* the majority of the cross-border migrants were young, came from rural areas and had little or no formal education
* the decision to migrate is complex and usually involves numerous overlapping factors
* migrants travelled a number of routes that changed frequently according to their political and economic situations. The vast majority are identified as illegal immigrants
* generally, migrants leave their homes not knowing for certain what kind of job they will actually find abroad. The actual jobs available to migrants were very gender specific
* though the living and working conditions of cross-border migrants vary according to the place, job and employer, nearly all the participants noted their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse without protection or redress
* for all illnesses, most of the participants explained that it was difficult to access public health services due to distance, cost and/or their illegal status
* along all the borders, most of the children did not attend school and among those who did only a very few had finished primary level education
* drug production, trafficking and addiction were critical issues identified by the communities at all of the research sites along the borders
* child labour was found in all three countries
* trafficking of persons, predominantly children and youth, was common at all the study sites
* orphaned children along the border areas were found to be the most vulnerable
* Migrants frequently considered their options and opportunities to return home
Based on the project?s findings, recommendations are made at the conclusion of this report to address the critical issues faced by migrant children and youth along the borders. These recommendations include: methods of working with migrant youth, effective interventions, strategies for advocacy, identification of vulnerable populations and critical issues requiring further research.
The following interventions were identified as most effective in empowering migrant children and youth in the Mekong sub-region: life skills training and literacy education, strengthening protection efforts, securing channels for safe return and providing support for reintegration to home countries. These efforts need to be initiated in tandem with advocacy efforts to influence policies and practices that will better protect and serve migrant children and youth."
Therese M. Caouette
Source/publisher:
Save the Children (UK)
Date of publication:
2001-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-04-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Refugees from Burma: general reports, Karen and other refugees from Burma in Thailand - general reports and articles, Migrants' rights: reports of violations, Child labour in Burma, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Trafficking: Burma-specific material, Ethnic groups in Burma: general studies and articles, Burmese and other stateless people in Thailand and Malaysia, Migrant children and youth
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
343.98 KB
Local URL:
more