The Story of a Child Soldier

Sixteen-year-old Htun Htun Oo, in 2009, escaped the area of Burma controlled by the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). He had to swim across the Salween River to escape, in fear of being tortured and killed if he was caught by his former commanders. While in the military he was no better than a slaves. In his own words, “They didn’t give us enough food, and when we were too exhausted to follow orders, they liked to beat us. I was beaten three times for falling asleep when I was on guard duty at night….. Every morning we had to get up at five and do military exercises,” Htun Htun Oo said. “Around three in the afternoon we would be ordered into the jungle to cut bamboo and collect leaves to make temporary shelters….We didn’t get enough time to sleep as we had guard duty at night. I couldn’t take it any more and decided to run away,” he said. He also mentioned a fellow child soldier, Ye Thew, who had been sexually assaulted. Htun is now looking forward to having the life of a child he has been deprived of thus far.
Local advocacy groups such as Guiding Star, headed by Aye Myint, have been working with the ILO to free these children.