Anna Rosario Malindog

Children Playing War Games in Burma: a Research in the Trends and Developments of Recruitment Practices and Usage of Child Soldiers in Burma Anna Rosario Malindog

"They are between ten (10) and eighteen (18) years old. They wear army uniforms and carry war weapons. By whatever standard you use, they are all and are still children and for what it may seems, they are playing no war games"? One of the alarming trends still relating to children in Burma is the active involvement and participation of these children in the on-going armed conflicts in the country. The massive and intensive on-going recruitment of child soldiers comes as well the drive for these child soldiers to defect and ran away from the army due to their dismal condition in the military. The challenge posed by this situation is how to respond, accommodate and address the socio-psychological trauma and needs of these former child soldiers after their bleak moments as combatants. This is the challenge that is being posed to the current civilian government of Burma or internationally known as Myanmar given its well professed commitment towards democratic transition.