YANGON: Myanmar’s military released 67 child soldiers on Friday, its first discharge this year as part of a slow process to end decades of forced recruitment of underage fighters that began under the former junta. There are no concrete figures on how many children are still among the estimated 500,000 troops that serve in Myanmar’s military or the ethnic rebel armies it battles in the country’s border regions. Recruitment of underage fighters has also slowed while Myanmar’s young civilian government is working to help underage recruits reintegrate into society. Many are sent to conflict areas such as the northeastern states of Kachin and Shan, where the army is fighting several rebel groups who also use child soldiers. UNICEF has been stepping up efforts to negotiate with those groups but none have officially started releasing underage fighters.

Source: Manila Times June 23, 2017 07:41 UTC