New York: As of March 31, 2021, at least 44 children were documented as killed in Myanmar by the Myanmar military, including a 7-year-old girl shot while in her home, eversince the Military usruped power in the country, according to UN funds and programs on the ground. Countless other boys and girls have been seriously injured, it reported.
Besides, there were at least 35 incidents of widespread attacks on schools and hospitals and protected personnel including arrests and violence against teachers and health personnel, which prevented life-saving interventions from reaching civilians. The military was also using education and health facilities, with more than 120 such incidents documented.
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Moreover, UN funds and programs on the ground have indicated that at least 900 children and young people had been arbitrarily detained. Although many of these have been released, many more were still held without access to legal counsel. This was in clear violation of international law which states that detention of children should only be used as a measure of last resort, for the shortest period possible and legal support should be provided to all children in contact with the justice system.
“We remind the Tatmadaw and the police in Myanmar that any use of force must be necessary and proportionate and not in contravention of international humanitarian and human rights law. We further urge them to stop the detention of children as clearly stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We call on the Tatmadaw (military) to halt widespread violence against children in any manifestation, to refrain from forcefully using or detaining children, to hold perpetrators of violence against children accountable and to uphold and respect Myanmar’s Child Laws. The children of Myanmar deserve no less,” Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, and Najat Maalla M’jid, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, said in a joint statement on April 1.
The two Special Representatives further expressed their deep concern over the longer-term effects of the current events in Myanmar on the physical and mental wellbeing of children and their families. The longer the current situation of widespread violence continues, the more it will contribute to a continuous state of distress and toxic stress for children, which can have a lifelong impact on their mental and physical health, they said.
Echoing the UN Secretary General’s urgent appeal to the military in Myanmar to refrain from violence and repression and to hold those responsible for the serious human rights violations committed in the country accountable, SRSG Maalla M’jid and SRSG Gamba called on the Tatmadaw and defense and security forces in Myanmar to immediately cease using excessive force and ensure the protection of civilians, particularly children from all such related violence.
– global bihari bureau
