Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Myanmar (Ratification: 2013)

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Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the military authorities’ information, in their report, that a Committee and Working Committee on the Prevention of the Six Grave Violations were established to prevent those six grave violations against children in armed conflict, including the recruitment or use of children as soldiers. It also notes the military authorities’ indication that it has implemented the National Action Plan on the Prevention of Killing, Maiming and Sexual Violence against Children in Armed Conflict (2020-2021), and that this National Action Plan has been renewed and is being implemented in 2022-2023. Moreover, the Committee notes that the Child Rights Law, 2019, contains a chapter (XVII) on children and armed conflict, in which the measures that should be taken by the governmental departments, governmental organizations, armed forces and armed groups, to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of children affected by armed conflict are enumerated (section 60). Section 61 of the Law provides that anyone who recruits or uses children in armed conflict or coerces or summons children by force to transport food, weapons and supplies, commits an offence. Moreover, sections 63 and 64 prohibit the recruitment and use of children under 18 into military service by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) or into other groups. Penalties for these offences, both imprisonment and fines, are provided for under sections 103(b) and 104 of the Act.

The Committee notes, however, that several UN sources point to the continued use and recruitment of children by armed forces and groups. According to the Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict of 4 January 2022, until the end of January 2021, the Special Representative was accelerating her engagement with the Government, led by the National League for Democracy, and the Tatmadaw armed forces on ending and preventing the recruitment and use of children. The Tatmadaw had issued four military directives prohibiting the use of children in armed conflict, and developed a roadmap with UN support to end and prevent this practice, but dialogue between the Special Representative and the Tatmadaw was halted after the military takeover on 1 February 2021. Moreover, in March 2021, the de facto authorities announced their intention to revise the July 2019 Child Rights Law, thereby risking an erosion of current protection standards. In the most recent annual report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict, the Tatmadaw, including the integrated border guard forces, was relisted for the recruitment and use of children, following its failure to end and prevent the ad hoc use of children in non-combat roles (A/HRC/49/58, paras 10–11).

Furthermore, in his 14 June 2022 report entitled “Losing a generation: how the military junta is devastating Myanmar’s children and undermining Myanmar’s future”, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar indicates that he has received various reports that the recruitment and use of children by the Myanmar military has indeed increased since the coup (A/HRC/50/CRP.1, para. 61). Second-hand accounts suggest that, at least in certain parts of the country, junta officials and junta-aligned armed groups have placed demands on villages or households to produce a certain number of recruits, without safeguards to ensure that children are not enlisted. The Special Rapporteur also received credible reports of the recruitment of children by some ethnic armed organizations since the coup, as well as of the use of children as forced labour by these armed groups, including to carry military supplies in conflict zones (paras 65 and 66). The Special Rapporteur also received reports from several sources that many children are living, working, and fighting with units from the newly formed People’s Defense Forces (PDFs). Often these children are making weapons, serving food, or acting as lookout guards. It is also likely that children have been involved in fighting with PDFs (para. 67).

In this regard, according to the most recent report of the Secretary General on children and armed conflict of 23 June 2022, the United Nations verified 503 grave violations against 462 children (390 boys, 69 girls, three of unknown gender) in Myanmar. Among other grave violations, the United Nations verified the recruitment and use of 280 children (260 boys, 20 girls), some as young as 12, attributed to the Tatmadaw (222), Kachin Independence Army (KIA) (50), Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army – South (RCSS/SSA-South) (6), Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA) (1), and the Arakan Army (AA) (1), in Rakhine (203), Kachin (40), Shan (16), Mon (13), Chin (2), Kayah (1), Magway (1), Mandalay (1), Sagaing (1), Taninthayi (1) states and regions and in Yangon (1) (A/76/871 – S/2022/493, paras 131 and following). While the Secretary General noted the intention of the Tatmadaw to continue implementing the 2012 joint action plan on the recruitment and use of children, he was extremely concerned by the continued high number of children used, predominantly in Rakhine (para. 140). The Secretary General also took note of, and expressed his concern about, other grave violations being perpetrated against children in the context of armed conflict in Myanmar, such as killings and maiming, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and detention and denial of due process.

The Committee must deeply deplore the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict in Myanmar, especially as it entails other violations of the rights of the child, such as abductions, murders and sexual violence. It recalls that, under Article 3(a) of the Convention, the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour and that, under Article 1 of the Convention, Member States must take immediate and effective measures to secure the elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. The Committee urges the military authorities to take the necessary measures as a matter of urgency to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age by armed forces and armed groups in Myanmar. The Committee also urges the military authorities to take immediate and effective measures to ensure the thorough investigation and prosecution of all persons found guilty of recruiting children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict and to ensure that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice, pursuant to the Child Rights Law, 2019. The Committee requests the military authorities to provide information on the number and nature of investigations carried out against the perpetrators of these crimes, as well as on the number of prosecutions conducted, and the number and nature of penalties imposed.

Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes that, in addition to the provisions of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law of 2005 (Anti-Trafficking Law) criminalizing the sale and trafficking of children and youth, the Government has adopted the Child Rights Law, 2019, section 48(a) of which provides that no child shall be forced to work or be employed in the worst forms of child labour, which include the sale and trafficking of children. The military authorities indicate, in this regard, that, between January 2017 and May 2022, there were 278 cases of child trafficking, and that the trafficking of children is being prosecuted both under the 2005 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law and the 2019 Child Rights Law.

The Committee observes, however, that the military authorities do not provide statistics on the number of prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied. It also points out that humanitarian crises, such as armed conflicts can lead to an increase in trafficking in persons (Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), “Trafficking in persons in humanitarian crises”, Issue brief #2, 2017). Taking into consideration the current situation of protracted conflicts in Myanmar, the Committee therefore urges the military authoritiesto intensify their efforts to combat child trafficking and to ensure, in this regard, that in-depth investigations and prosecutions are conducted against the perpetrators. It once again requests the military authoritiesto provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed pursuant to section 24 of the Anti-Trafficking Law, as well as pursuant to section 48(a) of the Child Rights Law.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the military authorities’ information that, in 2019, the enrolment rates in the age group 10–15 years was 68.69 per cent for boys and 75.59 per cent for girls.

The Committee notes in this regard that, according to a report of the Global Partnership for Education of 4 January 2022 on continuing education for crisis-affected children in Myanmar, despite implementing the National Education Strategic Plan (NESP) (2016-21) with a focus to undergo major transformation, Myanmar is continually facing challenges in ensuring quality education for all children. Moreover, three factors have been adding fuel to a long-standing crisis: (1) the protracted conflicts in various parts of the country that have been ongoing for decades; (2) the COVID-19 crisis which the Ministry of Education has not yet been successful in addressing; and (3) the military takeover which has had immediate impacts and will continue to plague an already dire learning crisis.

Months into the COVID-19 crisis which resulted in nation-wide school closures, it was quite evident that long-term impacts on education would be faced by children throughout the country, especially for those already marginalized. In December 2020, the World Bank reported that less than 40 per cent of children enrolled in school in February 2020 had been engaged in learning activities with lower rates for children in the bottom wealth quintile. The military takeover has further derailed the return to school, and no doubt increased the negative impacts on learning. The report further reveals that school closures are most risky for children from marginalized households who are more likely to be drawn into child labour, and that fears for the safety of children going to school have been heightened by the ongoing conflict, leading to education stakeholders observing unprecedented levels of school dropouts.

Similarly, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar notes, in his report of 13 June 2022, that the combined effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the military coup have massively disrupted education in Myanmar (A/HRC/49/76, paras 71, 72). In May 2021, 12 million children were estimated to have missed more than a year of schooling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, even after pandemic restrictions were lifted in late 2021, many teachers stayed away from the classroom as part of the civil disobedience movement, and many families made the decision to not send their children to government-run schools. Armed conflict, displacement and other security concerns have also impeded access to education. Attendance rates for government schools are estimated to be below 50 per cent. Junta forces have also occupied and attacked schools in conflict areas, further disrupting education and threatening the lives of student and teachers.

The Committee must therefore express its deep concern at the significant number of children who are deprived of basic education due to the many crises affecting the country. Considering that education is key in preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the military authoritiesto take measures to improve the functioning of the education system and to facilitate access for all children to free basic education. In this regard, the Committee requests the military authoritiesto take the necessary measures, to increase school enrolment, attendance and completion rates at the primary and secondary levels. It requests the military authoritiesto continue to provide information on the concrete measures taken in this regard and to provide updated statistical information on school enrolment, attendance and completion rates.

Clause (b). Provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Children in armed conflict. The Committee notes with regret that the military authorities do not provide any information on the removal of children from the armed forces or groups and their rehabilitation and social integration. It notes that, according to the report of the United Nations Secretary-General on children and armed conflict of 23 June 2022, the detention of children for alleged association with armed groups continues: the United Nations verified the detention of 87 children (75 boys and 12 girls) by the police and the Tatmadaw for their alleged association with armed groups. In addition, a boy who had been detained by the Tatmadaw since September 2020 was released in 2021 (A/76/871 – S/2022/493, para. 133). The Secretary-General expressed concern at the increase in the number of cases of detention of children, and their being denied due process, called for the implementation of the 2019 Child Rights Law, and urged the Tatmadaw to immediately release detained children and recalled that children should be treated primarily as victims. In this regard, the Committee observes that the Child Rights Law calls for all charges against children involved in armed conflict (except serious offences) to be dropped immediately, and for these children to be handed over to the Department of Social Welfare for reformation and care at a Training School, Shelter or Temporary Care Station (section 60(e)). The Law also requires measures to be taken to provide appropriate assistance for the education, rehabilitation and reintegration of children recruited or used in armed conflict, in order to restore their physical and psychological well-being (section 60(h)). The Committee therefore urges the military authorities to take effective and time-bound measures to remove children from armed forces and armed groups and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It asks the military authorities to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of children removed from armed forces and armed groups and socially integrated. The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.