BURMA: UNICEF AND ILO ON CHILD SOLDIERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 001143 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM SUBJECT: BURMA: UNICEF AND ILO ON CHILD SOLDIERS RANGOON 00001143 001.3 OF 003 Classified By: Political Officer Sean O'Neill for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Summary. UNICEF and ILO representatives in Burma told Poloff they believed the use of child soldiers to be an ongoing problem, but had no way to accurately measure its scope. Current estimates were based almost entirely on anecdotal evidence, so could be misleading, they said. UNICEF described a recent report by Human Rights Watch as generally balanced and accurate, while the ILO strongly criticized the NGO's approach and assertions. They saw some interest by the regime in tackling the problem, but have not seen any concrete steps to do so. Both called on the international community to provide more resources to assess the extent of the problem and stressed the need to hold the regime to its promise to address the issue. End Summary AN UNDIAGNOSED PROBLEM -------------- ¶2. (C) On November 23, UNICEF Country Representative Ramesh Shrestha told Poloff that the use of child soldiers in Burma has decreased slightly in the past few years but remained a serious problem. He cautioned that reliable mechanisms to monitor the situation do not exist making it extremely difficult to accurately gauge the extent of the practice. Shrestha blamed the practice not on an official policy to recruit child soldiers, but rather on pressure to replenish the army's dwindling ranks and a lack of effective controls over local recruiters. While forced recruitment does happen, he believed most cases involved unscrupulous recruiters willing to induct underage children who volunteer out of economic necessity. He considered government expressions of interest in dealing with the problem encouraging but was discouraged by the failure to follow through. ¶3. (C) In a separate November 23 meeting with Poloff, International Labor Organization Deputy Liaison Officer Piyamal Pichaiwongse described child soldiering as an ongoing problem whose full extent is not known. She informed us the ILO receives reports of individual cases, but currently could not estimate the total number of child soldiers in Burma. This resulted in outside observers relying on anecdotal, web-based reporting, much of which was inaccurate or misleading, she said. She acknowledged the difficulty of determining whether the problem was the result of an official policy or a response to recruiting pressures caused by increasing desertions; and had concluded the practice was at least tacitly sanctioned by the regime. ILO Liaison Officer Marshall told Charge that since September the number of forced labor complaints had declined while the number of child soldier complaints had dramatically increased. He considered this evidence that military ranks were shrinking, causing recruiters to go after children. Pichaiwongse said the central government seemed interested in avoiding the negative publicity generated by the child soldier issue, particularly under UN Security Council Resolution 1612. The real problem, according to Pichaiwongse, is that the regime has no understanding of what it takes to address the issue. ¶4. (C) Shrestha described a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on the use of child soldiers in Burma as generally fair and accurate, but noted it failed to report the government's apparent interest in addressing the problem. By contrast, ILO Liaison Officer Steve Marshall strongly criticized the NGO's approach and described the report as inaccurate and misleading. Marshall pointed out that HRW has no permanent presence in Burma and therefore has a particularly hard time gauging the extent of the child soldier problem here. While an HRW officer did meet with the ILO prior to releasing the report, both Marshall and Pichaiwongse said much of what they discussed was either omitted or distorted in the final version. Marshall complained that the report's criticism of the ILO and UN's efforts to address the problem was unfortunate and distracting. The ILO has worked hard to resolve those cases it knows of and expand its ability to help others. Much more must be done, he said, but laying false blame on anyone other than the regime does nothing to hasten an end to this RANGOON 00001143 002.2 OF 003 problem. FIRST AID -------------- ¶5. (C) Both UNICEF and the ILO have engaged the regime on the child soldier issue to varying degrees of success, Shrestha and Pichaiwongse reported. UNICEF primarily focuses on programmatic efforts to combat the problem, while the ILO focuses on monitoring and individual casework. UNICEF has been permitted to conduct a limited number of training programs for Burmese military officers on national and international prohibitions on the use of child soldiers but Shrestha said more were needed. Save the Children has also conducted a few training sessions for the military. UNICEF has encouraged the regime to enhance training for recruiters and officers and suggested a publicity campaign to discourage under-aged children from joining the army, according to Shrestha. However, he added that the regime had done nothing to follow up on these recommendations despite verbally agreeing to do so. Shrestha also reported that in February, UNICEF asked to meet with the families of 331 children the regime claims were released from active duty, but has yet to receive permission to do so. ¶6. (C) According to Pichaiwongse, in response to prodding by the ILO, the regime has agreed to establish a much-needed working group with the UN Country Team to specifically address children's rights issues - including the child soldier problem - but has not yet followed through. She reported that until now, the ILO has addressed the child soldier issue through a government-ILO working group intended to deal with forced labor. Since February 2007, Pichaiwongse reported the ILO has documented 14 instances of forced recruitment of child soldiers. The ILO reported all of them to the Ministry of Labor through the forced-labor working group. So far, she said, one of these children has been returned to his family and several others may soon return home as well. Pichaiwongse noted that the chances of success were far higher when these cases are raised privately, but pointed out NGOs and opposition activists occasionally publicize specific cases against the ILO's advice. THE PRESCRIPTION -------------- ¶7. (C) The international community should hold Burma to its promise to deal with the child soldier problem, and should provide more resources to monitor its scope and address its causes, according to the ILO and UNICEF. Both Marshall and Shrestha told us the first priority should be to establish an effective mechanism for monitoring the child soldier problem in Burma. Due to current limited resources, most families must travel to the ILO's Rangoon offices to report cases of child soldiers. Marshall said the ILO needed more experts and staff to conduct monitoring operations throughout the country. Only then, he said, will it have an accurate picture of how widespread the problem is and how best to address it. ¶8. (C) In order to address the root causes of the child soldier problem, Shrestha said UNICEF needed funding to dramatically expand its training, public education, and social welfare programs. He needed experts to train government officials, army officers, and recruiters on legal prohibitions on the use of child soldiers. He also recommended public education campaigns to discourage children and their families from joining the army, along with social programs to address the underlying economic needs pushing children to join. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) While an accurate number for child soldiers will be difficult to determine given the military's reluctance to be open, the persistent reports indicate that poor Burmese children remain vulnerable to military recruiters. The steps RANGOON 00001143 003.2 OF 003 the Than Shwe regime has taken, like we have seen on other issues, are minimal, just enough to deflect international criticism. For that reason the international community should spotlight the ongoing violations, the failure to prosecute wrongdoers, and the unwillingness to give UNICEF and the ILO complete access to monitor the situation. Than Shwe does not like international criticism. We should make clear that the criticism will only ease when he takes concrete steps to correct the problems. VILLAROSA