Mudon: From dusk to dawn seven days a week, people gather in local bars to guzzle beer and chat into the wee hours of the morning in Mudon Townhip, Mon State, Southern Burma. Fourteen-year-old Tun Oo works every night till early morning serving the patrons of one such crowded beer garden in Kwan Hlar village. He works alone for over 12 hours a day and enjoys serving beer to the clients.
"I get 30,000 kyat per month and I feel satisfied with my stipend. Before I got 15,000 when I filled gasoline in cars," said the slim young boy. Poverty, however, is seen as the major reason why parents send their children to work. Tun Oo from Kyaik-Hto Township is the youngest son of the family. He has two sisters and his family face difficulties making ends meet. Having no other option, he went to work in Mudon Township where he could get a better salary.
He likes to emulate cowboys and wears a cowboy hat along with camouflage short pants. He is familiar with the guests. There are many boys like Tun Oo who serve beer, coffee and tea at shops in Burma. The owners often do not hire adults, as they have to pay them more than children. Child labour comes cheap.
According to Mrs. Jarai Non coordinator of the WCRP (Women and Child Rights Project), based on the Thai-Burma border in Sangkalaburi who collects reports regarding child labour, many children are involved in family business ventures because poverty is an overriding factor in their families.
According to Save the Children, Burma's children wallow in the worst possible poverty in Asia. Given the economic downslide
and the political situation in Burma which affects aid allocation, child mortality rates are high with over 27,000 children nationwide dying from preventable diseases while others suffer from malnutrition and endure long hours of labour for their families. Other problems relate to lack of education, which has plummetted in recent years from lack of public investment. Unskilled and without legal protection, children under the age of 18 make up approximately 40 percent of the country's population.
There are many children who work collecting bottles, plastic bags, and those who sell food and water at bus and train terminus along the way from Mawlamyine to Rangoon . Some children sit at bus stations and ask passengers if they would like drinking water when the bus stops. These children are not able to study in schools, as their families cannot afford to pay for their education.
Burma became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Right's of the Child (1991) and enacted the Child Law, prohibiting child labour (1993). The concept that children have rights is not widely known in the country. Unfortunately, for these poor children and their families, there are no real options to continue their education at present. At a UN Committee meeting in 2004, some Burmese officials felt that these parents have no choice but to send their children to work and should be allowed to so.
A popular expression of taxi drivers in Burma is, "You don't need to be educated, but you need to know how to find money." Indeed, many people in Burma aren't proud of their education and do not pursue it. Some people who graduate still cannot get a job and cannot provide for their families. Because of the high rate of unemployment of those who are educated, many families discourage their children from completing their education. The majority of children go only up to middle school.
"Children who work at coffee and tea shops have to live in small compounds in poor living and working conditions that affects their health," said Mrs. Jarai Non. "Many children get paid a small amount of money even though they have to work day and night. They have to wake up at 5 a.m. and continue working till 10 p.m. leaving them exhausted. Some children don't want to work and they would prefer to continue their studies," she added.
