Bertrand Bainvel
UNICEF country representative

The Tatmadaw's release of 109 child soldiers on September 25 was the largest since the government and the Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting on grave violations against children (CTFMR) developed an action plan on the issue in June 2012. The action plan aims to end and prevent the recruitment of children by the Tatmadaw. The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is coordinating reintegration opportunities for released children and young people, supported by UNICEF and international and national NGOs. The task force is also conducting a massive awareness campaign aimed at mobilising communities to take action against the recruitment of child soldiers. Mizzima Business Weekly's Portia Larlee spoke with UNICEF country representative Bertrand Bainvel, a co-chair of the task force, about changing a culture of recruiting child soldiers and the support for young people after they are released.

How are child soldiers recruited in Myanmar? Is a 'middle man' involved?

Well, as you said, there may be a middle man who is basically a broker trying to recruit children mostly in urban centres, according to our information. They are luring children into the army by basically telling them they will have a better salary, good jobs, bright future. This is one way. One aspect we want to work on is strengthening and reinforcing legislation and prosecution for brokers who are targeting children under 18 to be enlisted in the army.

There is also direct point of contact; children leave their family on their own and feel that there is a brighter future and the army is better for them. Maybe there are some family issues. You also have some poor families who feel they can't feed their children and need more sources of income; they don't realise it's dangerous. Poverty is a factor.

And then you also have some incentives for recruitment centres to recruit more people. They may be more lenient to try to meet their recruitment objective. They could actually end up recruiting children – out of their will – based on forged documentation. There is not stringent enough verification or knowledge of how to verify.

What is the demographic of child recruits?

Again, the poverty factor is huge. They end up on the street trying to find small jobs and this is where they fall to the easy prey of middlemen. They [the middlemen] say they can give the child more stable income. All aspects are at play of course, especially in the Tatmadaw ranks. You can have children who also feel that being part of the army is glorious. But there are many situations where families are struggling – and because they are struggling they are very vulnerable.

Tell me about reintegrating former child soldiers into civilian life. What options are available to the newly released?

You need to have support, which is looking at different elements, including psychosocial. You are helping children and young people move away from a very regimented, by definition, environment, which is ruled by discipline and very strict routines – and by obedience. You are moving towards getting back to normal life, which – especially in a country like Myanmar – is reforming. New opportunities are opening and you need to be creative, agile and take initiative. There is no strict discipline enforced. Readjusting to a different type of life is important.

Then of course, you need to make sure that there will be opportunities. If they want to go back to school they should be able to. The decree by the Minister of Education six months ago allowing released children to re-enter the school system at any point during the school year was an important one. Otherwise there are some non-formal vocational-type training activities delivered by different NGOs and institutes. All the strategies of reintegration are coordinated by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, which is important because it can refer the released young people and children to the most appropriate type of support that is also based on what they want to do.

[At the September 25 ceremony in Yangon to release 109 children] we asked the young people 'what do you want to do?' Some of them were saying, 'we want to go back to school,' others were saying they wanted to join an engineering institute and some said they wanted to be drivers. To connect them, it is important to have a functional network and for that there is Save the Children, World Vision, Myanmar Red Cross – which has a spread out network – and others. We can refer the children to the type of support they need depending on where they are reintegrated. Many of them, according to our sources of information, have been recruited in the urban areas. But this does not mean they were originally from there or their family is there.

Is the reintegration process effective?

We are quite happy with the supports that have been put in place. I think down the line we will need to find out if the young people are able to function as adults normally and as productive citizens. Have they fallen into another risk category? Have they been exploited or trafficked? We have some discussions about the need to evaluate and strengthen and reinforce the support mechanisms for children enrolled in the army. We need to give children a proper second chance.

Under the June 2012 action plan 472 children have been released. Has there been any follow-up?

So far we have not done so. The idea is that we need a bit more time to be able to tell if the reintegration intervention has been effective and successful, knowing that reintegration is something very difficult. For instance, when you have children who have been living in orphanages all their life, living in society is normally very difficult, even when they leave the orphanage at the age of 17. They need to be able to function on their own in a house or apartment, be able to pay the bills. All these things we take for granted. They didn't get the support parents give normally; reintegration is possible but it is difficult.

What do you need to take into account when planning the reintegration of former child soldiers in Myanmar?

The first is how do we define the child. A 'child' is a human being from birth to age 18, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The work we are doing as UNICEF with the Myanmar government is looking at a new child law, which would define 'child' in the first few articles. By doing that you reinforce the protection of a human being who needs different types of support and cannot be responsible for everything until he or she has matured psychologically speaking and has been given the skills and tools to function in their lives. This is why the age of 18 is an important one. This is the time frame we need for a human being to be able to function more independently.

We are also dealing with the reality of the country and the economy as well. You have poverty, you have people, also, who do not have access to land, people without regular and stable income. All of these aspects are also at play. Having said that, it doesn't remove the responsibility of the Tatmadaw not to accept a child in their ranks. I would say these are the main issues.

What about the culture of ethnic minority armed groups?

In the non-state actors, you might have more feelings of being part of a resistance to defend one's identity as we saw in other countries. One might have a sense of meaning and of protecting one's community. I suspect this is at play also – although, we don't have any systematic evidence.

How do you address this culture of children in the army?

There is a public awareness campaign saying it is not a norm for children to be in the army so, if you happen to know that someone is recruited, pick up your phone, call the hotline and report. You have to know this is not something normal; this is not happening in other countries and it is not what is expected to happen in this country.

Myanmar is not exempt to a certain level of stigmatisation of children who have been in the ranks of the army. We need to work with the community so the community understands it is not the children who are wrong – but it is something wrong that has been done to children. They have been victims and it is not their fault; they are human beings who deserve to be supported and deserve a second chance.

Do young people miss a sense of community when they are released?

We have not come across that. But this is why it is important to focus on reunification of the family and community. They will have a transition period during which many will struggle psychologically because life is organised in a different way outside of the barracks. This is why they need to be accompanied.

Are there psychological issues, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, that need to be addressed?

You have the aspect of guilt and shame. For some, they will feel they were released because they didn't perform well, but they need to know it was wrong in the first place. You have the possibility of cases of children exposed to violence. Some have been sent to the front line and some have been in places of conflict. Many of them will live with that for the rest of their lives and will have difficulties overcoming this.

Regarding PTSD, UNICEF prefers to speak of psychological support. You have abnormal situations and normal reactions, like grief. We are making people understand that they've been through an abnormal thing. Peer support opportunities in the community can help the majority of children in overcoming what they have been exposed to. You will have a minority for which it will be more problematic. They will need more professional one-on-one support. In many situations where UNICEF operates in conflict zones, this kind of qualification is not available. You can expect that Myanmar would have this issue.

The Kachin Independence Army’s deputy chief commander said in August he was committed to eradicating the recruitment of children but acknowledged that it continued in the lower ranks. How do you ensure this practice is eradicated?

This is where the enforcement mechanism will need to be put in place. You need commitment and you need to build up a system of incentives – but also reprimands – to make sure it is indeed enforced. But, again, it is also about working with communities. There are different ways of resisting. There are different ways of promoting one's cultural identity. The leadership has a key role to play.

What about young recruits who don't have proper identification? How can recruiters know how old they are?

According to the data UNICEF has, at least one quarter of the children in Myanmar do not have birth certificates. When they reach the age of 14, 15, 16, are you able to say they are under 18? This is where the middlemen can forge papers. It is also where it is becoming difficult for some recruitment units to determine if the person is over 18. Now the system is being strengthened and different documents are required. Training is happening in recruitment units. Recruiters need to know how to check the validity of documents.

Please comment on the involvement of young people in militias.

I lack knowledge and understanding about how this is happening. Militias are at a crossroads in this agenda; children are affected by armed conflict and by violence. This violence is not due to armed conflict, but by gang violence, which we see in other countries. You have communities almost at war with each other, but it is not part of the agenda. For me, we also lack more robust information on this aspect.

How is the CTFMR making the public aware that the recruitment of child soldiers is wrong?

Through billboards, TV and radio spots – and we're going to intensify that. The government media will be enlisted in a more forceful way in disseminating the information that children shouldn't be in the army. If you know of recruitment of children, you can call the hotline. Actually, it was a bold effort from the Tatmadaw to do that. We didn't see that in many countries. By doing that the Tatmadaw said yes, indeed, we had a problem. The Tatmadaw is open about it, which is quite amazing, and is asking the public to work with them to end the practice. I think this is very commendable actually.

It seems that much of CTFMR's agenda is to strengthen child protection of Myanmar.

It is a way of mobilising the whole community to keep an eye and do something, even if it's not your own child, you have some extent of responsibility to also protect any child.