The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights has presented a 40-page report documenting abuses and violations. At least 250,000 children displaced; 382 maimed or killed, over 1,400 arrested. Those deprived of study exceeded 7.8 million, some 33,000 died of treatable diseases. The appeal for urgent intervention by the international community.
Yangon (AsiaNews) - Dozens of children have been killed in Myanmar since the February 2021 coup that overthrew the democratic government of Aung San Suu Kyi - now under arrest - and returned the military dictatorship to power. Underage victims have not only died in the crossfire between the army and opponents or ethnic rebel groups, but have been subjected to targeted attacks by soldiers who, according to testimonies collected by UN experts, have inflicted 'immense suffering'.
Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur for human rights in the former Burma, says that children and young people have been beaten, stabbed, had their nails and teeth pulled out during interrogations, others have faced mock executions.
During these 16 months, the junta has repeatedly attacked the United Nations and Western countries, accusing them of interference and rejecting accusations of atrocities. However, from testimonies and contributions collected by UN-linked agencies, activist and pro-human rights groups, civil society representatives and eyewitnesses, a very different picture emerges. At least 250,000 children have been displaced by the fighting, another 382 have also been killed or maimed by air raids or heavy artillery.
The 40-page report is entitled: 'Losing a generation: how the military junta is attacking children in Myanmar and stealing their future'. The Special Representative accuses the military regime of systematically abusing children since it came to power. Over 1,400 young people have been arrested and at least 61 are currently being held hostage. According to the report, at least 7.8 million children are deprived of their right to education because of the conflict and another 33,000 are at risk of dying from treatable diseases because they have not had their vaccination cycle this year.
"The junta's relentless attacks on children underscore the generals' depravity and willingness to inflict immense suffering on innocent victims in its attempt to subjugate the people," Andrews said in a statement. "The junta's attacks on children constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes." The UN has received information about 142 children being tortured by soldiers, police and pro-army militias, and there are accounts of increased child labour, in this case also by armed formations that stand in the way of the military junta.
The UN expert appeals to the international community to take coordinated action to isolate the military dictatorship financially and to commit to a 'significant increase' in humanitarian assistance. We must respond, he concludes, 'to the crisis in Myanmar as urgently as we did to the crisis in Ukraine' to avert the looming danger of a crisis that could create an entire 'lost generation'.