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

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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
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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

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problem.

FIRST AID
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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
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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
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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

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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