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Myanmar

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Ethnicity and conflict are inextricably linked in Myanmar, creating a vicious cycle of violence that continues to escalate. The state’s inability to address ethnic minority grievances or provide adequate security to communities has created a literal arms race among minority groups. As a result, the country now has scores of powerful non-state armed groups around most of its periphery. Today, there are scores of powerful armed entities in Myanmar’s periphery that identify themselves primarily by their ethnicity rather than their political or ideological goals.

Interview to an an active field worker based in MYANMAR and BANGLADESH from 2017 to 2019, in projects focused on children security and rights.

Testimony collected by Shyamila Hettiarachchi on November 2023

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​Myanmar - Between 1 September 2018 and 30 June 2020
Children and armed conflict – Myanmar - Report of the Secretary General/S/2020/1243

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  • 994 grave violations were verified against 974 children, some as young as 6 months old (845 boys, 123 girls, 6 sex unknown);

  • The country task force verified the recruitment and use of 635 children (624 boys, 11 girls) with 64 in the last quarter of 2018, 238 in 2019, and 313 in the first half of 2020;

  • The country task force verified the killing (87) and maiming (233) of 320 children, some as young as 6 months old (211 boys, 103 girls, 6 sex unknown). A total of 13 child casualties occurred during the last quarter of 2018, 161 in 2019, and 146 in the first half of 2020;

  • The country task force verified the rape of two girls aged 14 and 10 years old. Both incidents occurred in 2019 but were verified in 2020; 

  • The country task force verified 20 attacks on schools (18), hospital (1), and related protected persons (1), including 12 attacks in 2019 and 8 attacks in the first half of 2020;

  • The country task force verified the abduction of 17 children (10 boys, 7 girls), aged 4 to 17;

  • The country task force did not verify specific incidents of denial of humanitarian access to children. However, humanitarian access, especially in Rakhine, Shan, Kachin States and southern areas of Chin State, continued to deteriorate drastically due to armed confrontations, insecurity, including due to landmines and explosive remnants of war, inconsistent and strict governmental travel authorizations and poor road infrastructure.

tab myanmar
Prof.ssa Shyamila Hettiarachchi, Regional Team Leader of the UNETCHAC
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