child soldiers

Myanmar's military freed more than 400 child soldiers last year, the United Nations has confirmed, a record number since the Tatmadaw army signed a 2012 pact with the UN on the issue.

There are no verifiable figures on how many children are currently serving in Myanmar's huge military, which has faced a slew of accusations over rights abuses, including the forced recruitment of children to work as porters or even human mine detectors.

Since the pact was signed, a total of 595 children have been freed, with 70 per cent of the releases - 418 - taking place in the last 12 months, including 42 on Friday, the UN said.

"Within a one-year period of time, this is a record number of children coming out of the armed forces, reflecting the accelerated efforts of the government of Myanmar and the Tatmadaw to put an end to the harmful practice of recruiting and using children," said Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN resident coordinator in Myanmar.

The number of child soldiers recruited by armed groups in the Central African Republic have quadrupled since the outbreak of a bloody civil war two years ago, a report says.

Up to 10,000 children, some as young as eight years old, are being forced to fight, carry supplies and perform other frontline roles compared to around 2500 at the beginning of the crisis in December 2012, the research by aid agency Save the Children has found.

Children recruited by armed groups often become victims of physical and mental abuse, and some have been ordered to kill or commit other acts of extreme violence.

The number of child soldiers in the Central African Republic (CAR) has more than doubled – and possibly quadrupled – since sectarian conflict erupted last year, putting them at risk of long-term psychological damage, Save the Children warns.

An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 boys and girls are currently members of armed groups, compared with around 2,500 at the beginning of the crisis, according to the charity.

The demobilization process, which is expected to end in February, is aimed at reintegrating former child soldiers into their respective communities.

World Bulletin/News Desk

An agreement has been reached to demobilize more than 2,000 child soldiers from the former rebel South Sudan Democratic Movement/Cobra faction (SSDM/Cobra faction) of David Yau Yau.

"More than 2,000 children are going to be released by the cobra faction," Ettie Higgins, UNICEF's deputy country representative, told The Anadolu Agency on Friday.

"There will be a need for psychosocial support for them. They need vocational training and they need to be reintegrated into community life," she said.