Children Playing War Games in Burma

"They are between ten (10) and eighteen (18) years old. They wear army uniforms and carry war weapons. By whatever standard you use, they are all and are still children and for what it may seems, they are playing no war games"... One of the alarming trends still relating to children in Burma is the active involvement and participation of these children in the on-going armed conflicts in the country. The massive and intensive on-going recruitment of child soldiers comes as well the drive for these child soldiers to defect and ran away from the army due to their dismal condition in the military. The challenge posed by this situation is how to respond, accommodate and address the socio-psychological trauma and needs of these former child soldiers after their bleak moments as combatants. This is the challenge that is being posed to the current civilian government of Burma or internationally known as Myanmar given its well professed commitment towards democratic transition.

Autorentext

Anna Malindog is both an academic and a human rights advocate/defenders. As an academic, she is into political science, international relations and security issues. Aside from her human rights work, she also has wide experience working on humanitarian and development issue in the Asia Pacific region. She is a single mother of two beautiful children