Burma (Myanmar) has the largest number of child soldiers in the world. The overwhelming number of Burma's child soldiers are found in the national army, although children are also present in many of Burma's armed opposition groups.

Child Soldiers in the Burma army:

• Children as young as eleven are apprehended by recruiters at bus and railway stations, marketplaces, festivals and on the streets. They are forced to join the army, or threatened with jail. If they refuse, they may be detained or beaten.

• Thirty-five to forty-five percent of new recruits in the Burma army may be children under the age of eighteen, and 15 to 20 percent may be under age fifteen. Most child soldiers are recruited without their parents' consent or knowledge. Once recruited, many child soldiers are never able to contact their families again.

• During training, child soldiers are frequently beaten for the slightest mistake. Those who try to escape are forced to lie face down on the ground while each of the other 250 trainees in the unit hits him once with a stick. Some trainees have died after such punishment.

• Children as young as twelve are deployed into front line areas and forced to fight against Burma's ethnic minorities and other opposition forces. They are also forced to commit human rights abuses against civilians, including rounding up villagers for forced labor, burning houses, and even massacring women and children.

• Burma's army has doubled in size since 1988, and with an estimated 350,000 soldiers is now one of the largest armies in Southeast Asia. Although there is no way to establish precise estimates, accounts from former soldiers indicate that 20 percent or more of active duty soldiers may be children under the age of eighteen-or as many as 70,000 child soldiers.

• Children who manage to desert the army are left with few options. Most are afraid to go home for fear of being arrested. Some join armed opposition groups, while others flee to neighboring countries where, denied refugee status, they often seek work illegally.

  Child Soldiers in Burma's Armed Opposition Groups:

• Over thirty armed opposition groups operate in Burma. Although the majority have reached ceasefire agreements with the government, all have retained arms and are still recruiting soldiers. More than ten are still actively fighting against the Burma army. All but a few of the smallest groups appear to include child soldiers in their armies.

• Some children are recruited into armed opposition groups by force, while others seek to join such groups because they have been displaced from their homes, or are seeking to avenge past abuses by Burmese forces against their families or communities.

• Child recruitment by armed opposition groups is generally decreasing as many opposition groups have shrunk in size and resources in recent years. Exact numbers are not available, but the combined non-state armies are estimated to have approximately 6,000-7,000 soldiers under the age of eighteen.

• The United Wa State Army (UWSA) is the largest of Burma's armed opposition groups and may have as many as 2,000 child soldiers, probably the most of any opposition army in Burma. Wa families with more than one son are forced to give one to the army to serve as a soldier. Children as young as seven have reportedly been taken for training.

• The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) is reportedly Burma's only armed opposition group to recruit girls. It also forcibly recruits children, who are used for farming and building roads and bridges, since there is currently no fighting in Kachin State.

• The Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) and the Karenni Army (KnA) have policies setting eighteen as the minimum age of recruitment, but are also known to accept children who actively seek to join, and allow them to participate in combat. The KNLA may have up to 500 child soldiers, and the Karenni Army about 250.

• The Shan State Army-South (SSA-South) adopted a minimum recruitment age of eighteen in early 2001. Although it claims not to have any child soldiers, witnesses report that some children serve in support roles.

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