I must say, that as I first read this article, I was very glad and relieved to hear of the release of the child soldiers. But as I read on, that sense of happiness and relief diminished more and more.
To be completely honest, I did not think that countries still drafted their children into their armies. I though that was a practice long gone. I could not believe that there may be about 5,000 child soldiers still enlisted in Myanmar's Army. I cannot believe that the army was so desperate as to resort to kidnapping young men and boys to fill their ranks. I was not surprised to hear that Myanmar's society was that of a rebellious one.
I am happy that the U.N decided to intervene in this particular matter. Hopefully, through them, the practice of using children as soldiers will be abolished.
I also wonder what will happen to the corrupt government officials who were behind this egregious scheme. Will they be properly punished for their deeds, or will they get away with this? I think that they will be brought to justice, but that it will be a while due to the obscurity of data.
Also, though I am confident that the U.N personnel are very capable people, I do not believe that the release of every child soldier will be accomplished by the end of the year. This doubt is in part due to the last statement of the article, "Without complete access, it is impossible to assess the situation as far as armed groups are concerned." How will they even be sure that every child was released when they do not even have complete access to the data? Although I am very much hopeful, I doubt that this feat can be accomplished in this short time-span.
I have to say that the Myanmar’s army is extravagant enough to kidnap the young men to sustain their army. Though I am glad that the U.N decided to take action in this matter, there might be several restriction with the Myanmar army. Hopefully, children shouldn't suffer the situation that is both physically, mentally, and emotionally difficult.
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot from this article. You had a good balance of background information and commentary. I am glad that the U.N. decided to take action and stop this from getting any further. We just have to trust that the U.N. is doing whatever they can to free the child soldiers. It will be a difficult task to complete, however, like usual, everything takes time. So now is not the time to doubt, but it should be a time of hope and optimism.
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