In 2022, 165 children died at the hands of Myanmar’s military Junta. As per data shared by the nation’s exiled opposition National Unity Government (NUG), this year saw a 78 per cent uptick in the number of deaths of children from 2021. Myanmar’s local media has chalked this number to artillery attacks targeting forces resistant to the Junta.
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A spokesperson for NUG’s Ministry of Women, Youths and Children Affairs has alleged that the Junta is intensifying its bombing and airstrikes and that frequently these target schools operating in areas controlled by the NUG.
Talking to Guardian Thomas Kean, a senior consultant on Myanmar for the International Crisis Group said that the “NUG figures appear credible” adding that artillery and air power are indiscriminate.
Recent months have seen dozens of children dying in the bloody massacre that started with the ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government in February 2021. Thousands of people have lost their lives since the coup.
In September, over a dozen children reportedly died in an airstrike on a school in the Sagaing region, and in November a shelling in the Rakhine state killed 10, including children. The 2021 Christmas massacre in Kayah state also had children among those dead.
Reports indicate that the children of Myanmar are also suffering physical torture. In June, the UN Special Rapporteur while speaking on the situation of human rights in the nation said that there are reports of children being beaten, cut, stabbed, and burned with cigarettes and having their fingernails pulled out.
(With inputs from agencies)
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