London: Thousands of children as young as ten years old have been kidnapped by the Burmese Army to meet a recruit shortfall, a human rights organisation has claimed.

"The brutality of Burma's military government goes beyond its violent crackdown on peaceful protesters. "Military recruiters are literally buying and selling children to fill the ranks of the Burmese armed forces," The Daily Telegraph reported here today, quoting Jo Becker of the Human Rights Watch as saying.

According to the organisation, which claimed to have interviewed a number of former child soldiers in Burma, kids are picked up at trains, bus stations and markets, and told that they will be arrested if they refuse to join the Army. Some children are beaten until they agree to "volunteer", it said.

The Burmese Army, which continues to expand even as it faces high rates of desertion, is constantly engaged in campaigns against up to 30 ethnic rebel groups.

In fact, according to a recent study, over half a million people are currently displaced after troops burnt villages and terrorised civilians. Often the Army establishes businesses like gold mines or dams in the depopulated areas. Moreover, the report had said that "child soldiers are sometimes forced to participate in human rights abuses, such as burning villages and using civilians for forced labour. Those who attempt to escape are beaten, forcibly re-recruited or imprisoned".

Source : PTI