Allegations that government and military authorities in Burma use forced and abusive forms of child labor have been raised by a number of organizations, including the ILO, the United Nations, Amnesty International and other NGOs, the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon, and the media. Allegations of the use of child labor include reports that children are being used as forced laborers in infrastructure development projects and military support operations. There are also reports that children are being drafted as soldiers. The Government's apparent lack of commitment to primary education continues to be a contributing factor to child labor conditions in Burma.

I. Summary of Findings from the 1998 Report

According to the Department's 1998 Report, child labor appeared to be an endemic problem correlated in large part with widespread poverty and lack of investment by the GOB in primary education. While national laws to protect children were in place, little appeared to be done to enforce them, and exploitive and dangerous forms of child labor had been widely reported, including work on infrastructure development projects, in military support operations, as child soldiers, and in the sex industry.

Children allegedly participated alongside adults when forced labor was demanded by government or military authorities. Households would sometimes send children when they needed to fulfill forced labor quotas, and it was common to see children doing forced labor in place of adults who need to engage in income-generating labor or helping women who perform forced labor in place of the male members of a family. The Department's 1998 Report also stated that the army viewed children as a cheap source of labor to support the military and as a labor pool from which to draw new soldiers.

II. Recent Developments Regarding Child Labor Practices

Since the Department of Labor's 1998 report was completed, allegations that government and military authorities use forced and abusive forms of child labor continue to be raised by a number of organizations. On April 23, 1999, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution deploring the "continuing violations of the rights of children, in particular through the lack of conformity of the existing legal framework with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, through conscription of children into forced labour programmes, through their military and sexual exploitation and through discrimination against children belonging to ethnic and religious minority groups."⁽¹⁾

Allegations of the use of child labor include reports that children are being used as forced laborers in infrastructure development projects and military support operations. There are also reports that children are being drafted as soldiers. In the ILO Director-General's 1999 report, information was provided with regard to families sending children instead of adults to perform forced labor in order to reduce disruptions in adults' income-earning activities.⁽²⁾ In many cases, the demand for villages to fill forced labor quotas seems so burdensome⁽³⁾ that families feel compelled to send their children to meet the demands for forced labor.

A. Education

The Department's 1998 Report noted that despite a compulsory education law, only 40% of children enroll in school and only 25-35% complete the 5-year primary school course. In addition, the military has closed down schools several times. Schools at all levels were closed for much of 1997 out of apparent concern that students might publicly protest or challenge GOB policies, and all universities had been closed at the time the 1998 Report was written. While primary schools have been re-opened, many of the universities remain closed. According to a State Department official, only a couple of medical and vocational schools have been allowed to re-open.

The Government's apparent lack of commitment to primary education continues to be a contributing factor to child labor conditions in Burma. In the case of children who have been forcibly relocated along with the rest of their villages, many are forced to work and help support their families rather than attend school since many schools have been closed or destroyed, and the children often do not speak the language used by the schools at relocation sites.⁽⁴⁾ Orphaned and poor boys living in youth centers are reportedly educated only to the primary school level.⁽⁵⁾

B. Recent allegations of child labor on infrastructure development projects

Children sent to perform forced labor on infrastructure development projects apparently work alongside adults on the same tasks. The ICFTU submitted to the ILO an April 1999 report by the Shan Human Rights Foundation stating that military authorities in Kunhing township were forcing many children, some as young as 7-8 years old, to break stones for paving roads. According to the report, military authorities had stated that the children were "useless and had nothing to do," and since they could not go to school, they had to work; almost 200 children are allegedly being forced to split stones.⁽⁶⁾ Other allegations of the use of child labor on infrastructure development projects include the following:

• Children from 8-15 years of age made up approximately 10% of the workforce on a temple construction project in northern Kunhing. One worker said that the children often worked in place of their parents, who were busy earning money to support the family (February 1999).⁽⁷⁾
• People from Shadaw relocation site were ordered to work on the road between Shadaw and the Pon River. Each house was required to provide one person to renovate the road after the rainy season. If no man was available, women or children over 12 years old were required to attend instead (November 1998).⁽⁸⁾
• In Tada-Oo Township, the Chairman stated that everyone, including children, had been recruited to build a 20-mile road between Myo Tha Town and Tada-Oo Town, which is scheduled to be opened at the end of 1999 (beginning June 1999).⁽⁹⁾
• Many children, usually between the ages of 13-15 years, are forced to help maintain dams in Maungdaw. Fathers often send their children to work in their place, and children are required to go if there are no adult males in the family (May 1999).⁽¹⁰⁾

C. Recent allegations of child labor to support military operations

Children in Burma are not spared from forced military duties. Some forty documents submitted by the ICFTU to the ILO give details of hundreds of cases in which forced labor was exacted during August 1998 - May 1999 for portering, military camp work, sentry duty, and other support work for the military all over Kayin (Karen) State, Kayah State, Pegu Division, Arakan State, Shan State, Chin State, and Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Division. The cases include allegations that women and children were used as human mine sweepers and shields.⁽¹¹⁾ The Report of the Special Rapporteur also noted that children were often forced to work on military bases constructing or maintaining barracks, bunkers, or fences, or performing menial tasks such as cleaning, weeding, and fetching firewood and water.⁽¹²⁾ Other allegations that children performed forced labor for the military include the following:

• Ten children from 12-15 years of age were forced to work as porters carrying chicken and dried meat (February 1999).⁽¹³⁾
• A 15-year old Karenni girl stated that when she was forced to move to Nwa La Bo relocation center at age 13, she could no longer attend school and was forced to work for the military. She was forced to cut grass and carry heavy stones to build roads.⁽¹⁴⁾
• A 16-year old girl from Loikaw township was forced repeatedly to build fences and barracks in a military outpost near Paw Th He village.⁽¹⁵⁾
• Many women and children were forced to work on constructing four major dykes in the Yebu township instead of the men, who had to work on farms and in other day jobs to produce income for their families' survival. A majority of women and children on several worksites suffered from diarrhea, weakness, and fever resulting from various diseases (late 1998).⁽¹⁶⁾

There are also allegations the children are being forced to work in commercial ventures profiting the military. While there are no statistics or studies on the number of children in the workforce and the types of labor they are performing, many families have apparently resorted to sending children instead of adults when forced labor is demanded in order to reduce disruptions in adults' income-earning activities. Therefore, children perform forced labor alongside adults and on the same tasks. Section IV of the COI Report included allegations that child labor was used to cultivate or produce a variety of goods including beans, bricks, fish, rice, shrimp, and wood, and an NGO recently reported that children have been forced to work alongside men on tiger prawn farms.⁽¹⁷⁾

Other sources reported that the Burmese high command issued orders to induct and train boys between 12-18 years of age. A major-general in the Northeastern Command allegedly issued a directive to:

• Give boys between 12 - 18 years of age full military training so that they may be prepared to mobilize at any time.⁽¹⁸⁾
• Educate Ye Nyunt Youth members only to the primary school level (Ye Nyunt Youth centers provide room, board, and schooling for orphaned and poor boys).⁽¹⁹⁾
• Train youth to serve in the reserve forces.⁽²⁰⁾
• Compel youth who continue their schooling to join the army when they are 18.⁽²¹⁾

III. Conclusion

Allegations that government and military authorities use forced and abusive forms of child labor continued to be raised by a number of organizations. While there are no statistics or studies on the number of children in the workforce and the types of labor they are performing, there are numerous allegations that children are being used as forced laborers in infrastructure development projects and for military support operations. Many families have apparently resorted to sending children instead of adults when forced labor is demanded in order to reduce disruptions in adults' income-earning activities. Therefore, children seem to perform forced labor on infrastructure development projects and work supporting the military alongside adults and on the same tasks.

There are allegations that children have broken stones for paving roads, helped construct temples, and worked on dams. Children also perform forced labor for the military, ranging from camp work to portering. There are also reports that children are being drafted as soldiers and used as human mine sweepers and shields.

The Government's apparent lack of commitment to primary education continues to be a contributing factor to child labor conditions in Burma. Despite a compulsory education law, less than half of the children in Burma enroll in school and only 25-35% of those students complete the 5-year primary school course. In addition, the regime has closed down schools several times since 1988. In the case of children who have been forcibly relocated along with the rest of their villages, many are forced to work and help support their families rather than attend school since many schools have been closed or destroyed, and the children often do not speak the language used by the schools at relocation sites.

1. U.N. Commission for Human Rights, Resolution 1999/17, paragraph 4(e).

2. Cited in ILO, Report of the Director-General, paragraphs 21, 22 and 24.

3. See section "1999 Update on Forced Labor and Forced Relocations" for the situation with respect to forced labor.

4. U.N., Report of the Special Rapporteur, paragraph 72.

5. ¹⁹⁵ Shan Herald Agency for News, "SPDC Orders Mobilization of Child Soldiers," (28 July 1999).

6. Shan Human Rights Foundation, "7-8 year-old children forced to work in Kun-Hing," (17 May 1999). Cited in ILO, Report of the Director-General, paragraph 38.

7. Amnesty International, Update on the Shan State, N. pag.

8. Amnesty International, Three Years of Dislocation in the Kayah State, N. pag.

9. U.S. Department of State, Embassy Rangoon, No. 001936, paragraph 18.

10. Images Asia, Part I, Interview No. 2.

11. ILO, Report of the Director-General, paragraph 27.

12. U.N., Report of the Special Rapporteur, paragraph 43.

13. Amnesty International, Update on the Shan State, N. pag.

14. Amnesty International, Three Years of Dislocation in the Kayah State, N. pag.

15. Amnesty International, Three Years of Dislocation in the Kayah State, N. pag.

16. Cited in ILO, Report of the Director-General, paragraph 42.

17. Images Asia, Part I, Interview No. 2.

18. ²⁰⁸ Shan Herald Agency for News, 28 July 1999.

19. ²⁰⁹ Shan Herald Agency for News, 28 July 1999.

20. ²¹⁰ Shan Herald Agency for News, 28 July 1999.

21. ²¹¹ Shan Herald Agency for News, 28 July 1999.