Human Rights Watch released a report today stating that the Burmese government is buying and selling child soldiers to fight in its army. “Military recruiters are literally buying and selling children to fill the ranks of the Burmese armed forces,” says Jo Becker, the children’s rights advocate for Human Rights Watch (Audio Clip). This comes at a time when the government is violently suppressing protests by its people for democratic reform. This horrific tactic being used by the Burmese government is not new by any means however.

For years, governments and rebel groups have been using child soldiers as lethal killing machines. Often left on their own after the murder of their parents and destruction of their villages by government or rebel groups, children are taken into the ranks of war. Young boys are desensitized as the soldiers supply them with drugs and force them to kill other children or even their own families. Girls are usually raped and given to commanders as “wives.” The result of these tactics has been mass creation of child soldiers all over the world. 2 million children have died as a result and, currently, there are approximately 300,000 children under the age of 18 fighting in wars around the world.

For more information, you can visit Human Rights Watch’s website. I also recommend reading books on the topic such as Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone: memoirs of a boy soldier, which I have reviewed here and recommend to everyone.