Arakan News Agency
The ruling military council in Myanmar announced on Friday that it has released 93 children from military service, in response to a United Nations report accusing it and allied armed groups of recruiting over 400 children, many of whom were involved in combat roles during 2024.
In a rare statement, the council said it conducted a verification process last year, which resulted in the discharge of the minors after confirming their ages. It added that the children also received financial assistance, according to the official Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
The statement noted that 18 suspected cases of underage recruitment are still under investigation. However, the military council did not clarify when the 93 children were released.
The UN report, published in June, stated that the Myanmar army and its allied groups had recruited 467 boys and 15 girls during 2024, including more than 370 children who were used in combat roles. It also mentioned that opposition armed groups recruited children, though in significantly smaller numbers.
The report highlighted that the largest portion of child recruitment took place in Arakan State, western Myanmar, where the Myanmar military and its allies recruited about 300 minors.
In 2024, Reuters published testimonies confirming the involvement of children as young as 13 in front-line combat in Arakan, citing UN sources and Rohingya fighters.
Myanmar has been gripped by turmoil since the military coup in February 2021, which ousted the elected government and triggered widespread conflict and civil war. The violence has displaced an estimated 3.5 million people—one-third of them children and caused tens of thousands of deaths, injuries, and arrests. The UN estimates that around 20 million people roughly one-third of the population will need humanitarian assistance in 2025.
More than one million Rohingya have fled Arakan State in recent years after the Myanmar military launched a genocidal campaign against them in 2017. In November 2023, the separatist Arakan Army launched a military offensive to seize control of the state, further targeting the Rohingya with violence, displacement, and forced recruitment. Most Rohingya now live in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh, while many are seeking to relocate to other countries in search of better living conditions.
