165 children died at the hands of junta, says Myanmar opposition party

Data released by Myanmar’s exiled opposition party National Unity Government (NUG) reveals that in 2022 alone the country’s military junta killed 165 children. As compared to 2021, 78 per cent more children have lost their lives at the hands of the military regime.

Thomas Kean, a senior consultant on Myanmar for the International Crisis Group said that reports like these are often accompanied with evidence and therefore the NUG figures “appear to be credible.”

Myanmar under junta

Last year in February, military leaders in Myanmar staged a coup following the loss of its proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party’s (USDP) in the 2020 elections.

After taking control, the junta – officially called the State Administration Council – detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi over charges of corruption and placed other members of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), under house arrest.

Thousands of people have died ever since the junta formed a government in Myanmar. Kean claims that artillery and air power are being used more indiscriminately than before.

A spokesperson at NUG’s Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs said that the regime has been bombing schools operating under NUG-controlled areas.

Condition of children in Myanmar

In June this year, the UN’s Special Rapporteur said that there had been reports of children undergoing beating, cutting and stabbing. Many children have reportedly withstood cigarette burns and have their fingernails pulled out.

He said, “They have been forced to hold stress positions; they have been subjected to mock executions; they have been sexually assaulted.”

Besides the brutal attacks, children are also experiencing malnutrition owing to limited access to clean water and health care.

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