The Philippines’ main Muslim separatist group has agreed to stop recruiting child soldiers and return those in its ranks to civilian life, a United Nations official said Friday.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, special representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, revealed that during her talks with MILF leader Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF has committed to enter an immediate action plan with the UN to stop the recruitment and use of children as soldiers by totally separating the young ones from their ranks and helping them return to civilian life.

“The MILF gave its word that they will direct their commanders in the field immediately,” Coomaraswamy said in a press conference held at the Discovery Suites Hotel in Ortigas.

Officials of the 12,000-strong MILF, which has been fighting for a Muslim homeland in Southern Mindanao since 1978, met with Coomraswarmy as part of her mission to discuss ways to stop recruitment of children by armed groups in this country.

Coomaraswamy visited the country on the request of the UN Security Council to discuss ways and means of securing the release of children being recruited by the MILF, New People’s Army and the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group. She met with government officials, such as Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Hermogenes Esperon, among others.

A United Nations Children’s Fund-commissioned study on children and women released on April showed that the MILF has been recruiting children in their ranks since the Philippine government declared an all-out war against the rebels in 2000 because of poverty, lack of access to basic social services, influence of their families, peers and community members. The MILF assuming custodial role for orphans whose parents are killed in the war is also a factor.

MILF practice

Young Muslim children undergo training by the MILF when they reach the age of puberty—13 to 14 years old for boys and 11 to 12 for girls. Aside from combat operations, these children are also “tasked to carry out patrols, perform sentry duty, prepare food and provide medical assistance.”

During her visit, the Philippine government issued an order strictly prohibiting the recruitment of anyone below the age of 18 into pro-government paramilitary units, Coomaraswarmy said Friday, the last day of her tour.

The UN official added that she was considering “possible dialogue,” with the 5,000-strong communist New People’s Army (NPA), which has been waging a Maoist rebellion since 1969.

The MILF and the NPA have both been accused of recruiting children into their ranks. Previously, both groups insisted the children joined willingly and served as spies, couriers or aides.

Asked on how confident they are that the MILF would fulfill such promise, Coomaraswamy said she believes that the fact that the MILF wants to be legitimized is a good sign.

“The MILF does not view their group as rebels, but as leaders of their province. As such, they would want to be removed from the terrorist list that’s for sure,” Coomaraswamy pointed out. “We maintain a good faith in them.”

She added that the UN sanctions stated in the UN Security Council 1612 that include freezing of assets, travel bans and embargoing of arms are a clear warning.

Share of the blame

But the identified rebel groups don’t have to take all the blame.

The UN also scored the Philippine government for allowing children to be involved in the paramilitary Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units and Community Volunteer Organizations operating in conflict areas.

“We told them that they should also investigate their ranks for violations against children,” she said. “They immediately agreed to immediately issue a directive that will compel all local units to strictly adhere to the existing national legislation that no one under 18 shall be tapped for such service.”

The UN official also recognized that while the Philippines has a strong framework of laws on children and armed conflict, its implementation is yet to be strengthened.

She complimented the government in the upcoming amendment of Republic Act 7610, which would exclude the prosecution of children arrested for reasons related to armed conflict.

“RA 7610 should be amended so that children who are arrested for reasons related to armed conflict will be spared from punishment,” she said. “They [children] are victims, not perpetrators.”

Zones of peace

Republic Act 7610 cites children as zones of peace, and therefore, should not be recruited to become members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, its civilian units or any other armed groups nor be allowed to be used as guides, while Republic Act 8371 prohibits the recruitment of children of indigenous cultural communities into the armed forces under any circumstances.

Republic Act 9208 provides sanctions against child engagement in armed conflict here and abroad, while Republic Act 9231 seeks the elimination of child labor that includes commissioning children to armed groups.

Fighting slammed

Coomaraswarmy deplored the recent surge in fighting between government forces and MILF guerrillas in southern Philippines which has forced thousands of children to flee to overcrowded evacuation centers.

She also insisted for the government to investigate those within the Philippine security forces who are allegedly responsible for violations against these children.

“Children are affected in multiple ways by the conflict in the Philippines. However, they should remain zones of peace and all the parties to the conflict, civil society, religious leaders and the government must consider their protection as a priority,” she said.

The MILF action comes after the United States in October made it a federal crime for rebel groups in the Philippines and 16 other countries to recruit or to use soldiers under the age of 15.

–AFP And Llanesca T. Panti

A ranking United Nations official said yesterday the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has committed to stop its practice of recruiting and using children in combat operations.

A statement from the Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process quoted visiting UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy as saying that the MILF “will enter into an action plan with UNICEF to stop the recruitment and use of children in combat.”

Coomaraswamy made the announcement during her talk with Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Secretary Hermogenes Esperon Jr. at the latter’s office in Pasig City.

She had just returned from a trip to Central Mindanao where she observed first-hand the various measures undertaken by the Philippine government in the protection of children in armed conflict areas, the statement said.

“The primacy purpose of this visit, requested by the (UN) Security Council, was to discuss ways and means of securing the release of children being recruited by the MILF and the New People’s Army (NPA),” she added.

The UN official welcomed the decision of the MILF to comply with the Security Council’s recommendations.

She said the Secretary-General for the use and recruitment of children lists these armed groups.

The MILF and the NPA have both been accused of recruiting children into their ranks. Previously, both groups insisted the children joined willingly and served as spies, couriers or aides.

During her meeting with Esperon and other government and military officials, Coomaraswamy raised concerns on the alleged involvement of children in the paramilitary Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit and Community Volunteers Organizations operating in some conflict areas.

She said the government has assured her to immediately issue a directive for all local units to strictly adhere to existing national legislation that no one under 18 years old shall be recruited as child soldiers.

She cited the importance to improve the child protection provisions in the ongoing peace progress with various rebel groups.

She welcomed the proposed amendment to Republic Act 7610 that would exclude from prosecution children who are arrested for reasons related to armed conflict, considering them as victims instead of perpetrators.

Esperon assured Coomaraswamy that the government would exert all efforts to protect children involved in armed conflict areas in the country.

Coomaraswarmy deplored the recent surge in fighting between government forces and MILF guerrillas in Mindanao, which has forced thousands of children to flee to overcrowded evacuation centers.

The MILF action comes after the United States in October made it a federal crime for rebel groups in the Philippines and 16 other countries to recruit or to use soldiers under the age of 15.

She said that talks with the MILF will start by next year but admitted that they have yet to find ways to engage the NPA and Abu Sayaff Group for a similar task of freeing the children among their ranks.

Coomaraswamy called on the Arroyo government to undertake targeted interventions with the assistance of UN agencies, particularly the UNICEF, on the management of camps that have children to ensure water and sanitation, health, food security, psycho-social support and protection of civilians.

Meantime, a church-based group has documented incidents of children who are victims of human rights violations and exploited women who have been tortured in detention centers in the country.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ official news service provider CBCPNews said that the People’s Recovery, Empowerment Development Assistance Foundation (PREDA) aims to inform the public on the true plight of children and women in prison.

– Katherine Adraneda, Evelyn Macairan, Non Alquitran, Paolo Romero

MANILA – The Philippines has urged its removal from the UN’s list of countries with child soldiers, stressing that it condemns the practice by various rebel groups, the foreign department said Wednesday.

Hilario Davide, Manila’s envoy to the UN, made the call during a meeting of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in New York on May 8, it said.

Davide said the Philippines has put in place a “legal firewall for the protection of children” and advised the UN to focus on countries “facing worse circumstances” involving child soldiers.

“The Philippines condemns non-state actors in the country who recruit, abduct, and use children, yet deny their illegal and unjustifiable deeds,” Davide said.

The Philippines was listed in 2005 through a Security Council resolution over reports that the communist New People’s Army (NPA), the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf used children as combatants.

The communist rebels admitted using children in non-combat duties, although there have been cases of NPA child soldiers arrested by military intelligence. Children are also often seen in MILF training camps in the southern island of Mindanao.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN’s special representative for children in conflict, said the Philippines’ listing was not meant to embarrass the country, but to acknowledge that the problem exists.

Coomaraswamy cited a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) study saying that the MILF adopts orphans to train as fighters, while the NPA is known to employ children as porters, cooks and couriers.

The 12,000-strong MILF has been waging a rebellion since 1978 for an independent Islamic state in Mindanao. Talks with the group were suspended last year. The NPA meanwhile has been waging a low-intensity Maoist insurgency since 1969.

NEW YORK: Children as young as 10 are being forcibly recruited into the Myanmar army, bought and sold by military recruiters desperate to swell their ranks, Human Rights Watch said in a report Wednesday.

The junta, plagued by high desertion rates and a lack of volunteers, is enabling the practice with military recruiters and civilians getting cash and other incentives for each new recruit, the rights group said.

“The government’s senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of children and fail to punish perpetrators,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocate for Human Rights Watch.

“In this environment, army recruiters traffic children at will.”

Recruiters, desperate to meet quotas set by their superiors, target children at train and bus stations, markets and other public places and threaten them if they refuse to join. Some children are beaten until they agree, said the report entitled “Sold to be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma.”

The rights group said thousands of children are among the army’s ranks and in some newly-formed battalions, children reportedly represent a large percentage of privates.

“They filled the forms and asked my age, and when I said 16, I was slapped and he said, ‘You are 18. Answer 18,’” Maung Zaw Oo told Human Rights Watch, recounting the second time he was forced into service.

Another former child soldier, Than Myint Oo, said: “The officers are corrupt and the battalions have to get recruits, so there’s a business.

“The battalions bribe the recruiting officers to get recruits for them. These are mostly underage recruits, but the recruiting officers fill out the forms for them and say they’re 18.”

One boy said he was forced into the army at age 11, despite being only 1.3 meters tall (four feet, three inches) and weighing less than 31 kilos (70 pounds).

The regime’s recent bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters led by Buddhist monks sparked international outrage, with the United States tightening sanctions on the ruling military junta.

And the sweep against monks and other protesters may make children more vulnerable to recruitment as the army could “find it even harder to find willing volunteers,” Human Rights Watch said.

Although the UN Security Council has threatened sanctions against those in the regime linked to the use of child soldiers, it has so far taken no action, it said.

The report calls for the Security Council to consider possible bans on the supply of arms and military assistance and travel restrictions on regime leaders.

“The Security Council should fulfill its pledge to hold violators to account for recruiting and using child soldiers,” Becker said.

“Given Burma’s abysmal record on child soldiers, sanctions against the Burmese military government are clearly warranted,” said Becker, using the country’s previous name.