Military Instruction / Circular No. 131/Ye 1 (Kha): April 25, 2000

Circular No. 131/Ye 1 (Kha)—dated April 25, 2000—reiterated the provisions of War Office Council Instruction No. 13/73, which established 18 years as the minimum age for recruitment. Both the Circular and the Instruction specify that if underage recruits are found in basic training courses for new soldiers, the recruiter and/or those responsible for their selection are to be punished by military rules and regulations.^[1]

Despite the prohibition of child recruitment under this Instruction/Directive, the Myanmar armed forces, along with related forces and affiliated militias^[2], have been listed in the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict for recruiting and using children since 2003, with the exception of 2004, 2008, and 2020. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has indicated receiving various reports that the recruitment and use of children by the Myanmar military has increased since the military’s coup on February 1, 2021.^[3] The 2024 United Nations Secretary-General’s annual report on children and armed conflict reported 1,102 incidents of recruitment and use of children in the previous year by the Myanmar armed forces, including related forces and affiliated militias.^[4]

While noting the issuance of such military Directives, the United Nations Secretary-General has expressed concern over their limited impact on the reduction in the use of children.^[5] Additionally, Human Rights Watch (HRW) interviews conducted in 2007 with former soldiers, including commanders and a military clerk, revealed no awareness of military directives on the issue of child recruitment.^[6]

^[1]United Nations Security Council, Letter Dated 19 January 2004 from the Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations Addressed to the President of the Security Council, S/2004/51, January 20, 2004, 1, https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/515049/files/S_2004_51-EN.pdf.

^[2] Listed as “Tatmadaw Kyi” from 2003 until 2010 (except 2004 and 2008), and “Tatmadaw Kyi, including integrated border guard forces” from 2011 until 2022, “Myanmar armed forces” in 2023, and “Myanmar armed forces, including related forces and affiliated militias” in 2024, to align with other United Nations reporting.

^[3] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Conference Room Paper of the Special Rapporteur, “Losing a Generation: How the military junta is attacking Myanmar’s children and stealing their future,” A/HRC/50/CRP.1, June 13, 2022, para. 61, https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc50crp1-conference-room-paper-special-rapporteur-losing-generation

^[4] United Nations, Annual Report of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, A/78/842-S/2024/384, June 3, 2024, p. 20, para. 149, https://undocs.org/en/S/2024/384.

^[5]United Nations, Annual Report of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, A/75/873–S/2021/437, May 6, 2021, p. 18, para. 131, https://undocs.org/en/S/2021/437.

^[6]Human Rights Watch, Sold to Be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma, 2007, https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/burma1007/burma1007.htm.