The International Labor Organization (ILO) in Rangoon said on Tuesday
that it is cooperating with both the Burmese government and the Kachin
Independence Army (KIA) in working for the release of underage Burmese soldiers
currently detained by the Kachin rebels.
The announcement comes just two
days after the ILO confirmed that the Burmese army had itself released 42
underage soldiers.
Steve Marshall, the ILO liaison officer
in Rangoon, told The Irrawaddy that his organization had received information
about some 40 Burmese soldiers who were effectively being held as prisoners of
war by the KIA.
“Some, we understand, are
allegedly underage recruits or child soldiers,” he said. “We received some data
[about those] people and we are now working with the government of Myanmar
[Burma] to identity these kids and verify the situation, so we can actually
negotiate their discharge.
“We have to work together with
the government, with the KIA, and also with the society, so that these young
people are able to return to their families, to be reintegrated into normal
society.
“It is obviously a sensitive
issue. I have to say that we are hopeful the government and the KIA will approve
this on the basis of the rights of the child, and not look at the political
method.”
KIA spokesman La Nan told The
Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the Kachin army wished to release the detainees,
and were cooperating. He said the KIA had already sent a list of names of
detainees to the ILO.
It is believed the 40 detainees
are currently being held in Laiza, the headquarters of the Kachin rebels.
According to La Nan, some of the
detainees are aged 15 or 16, while others are 19 to 20. He said that the ILO is
free to ascertain who is underage when they visit the KIA headquarters.
The captives were seized by the
Kachin rebels during various battles in Burma’s restive north. La Nan said the
detainees fear returning to their families because they may be re-arrested by
Burmese military officials.
The ILO has been working with the
Burmese government on a joint UN task force—headed by UNICEF and including
international NGOs World Vision and Save the Children—for the release and
reintegration of child soldiers and the prevention of further recruitment.
Human rights groups including the
UN have long accused both the Burmese armed forces and various ethnic rebel
armies of recruiting underage soldiers during decades of civil war in the
Southeast Asian nation.
Eight groups were singled out by
the UN Secretary-General and accused of using child soldiers—the Burmese Army,
the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, the Kachin Independence Army, Karen
National Liberation Army, Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council, Karenni
Army, Shan State Army-South, and the United Wa State Army.
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