‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

In 2023, the national military's continued self-reliance policy, which requires military forces to provide their own food and labor from local communities, led some units to force children and other civilians to work in non-combat roles, including portering, cooking, camp maintenance, farming, and other activities. During the reporting period, more than 1,000 children were recruited and used by armed forces including border guards, ethnic armed groups, and people's defense forces. In addition, civilian brokers with military connections sometimes altered birthdates on identity documents to facilitate the entry of underage recruits into the military, and family members, including children of military personnel, have been forced to receive military training.

Children at Higher Risk

Since the military perpetuated widespread ethnic cleansing of Rohingya people in northern Rakhine State in August 2017, over 742,000 Rohingya—half of whom are children—have fled from Burma to Bangladesh, making them vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor. Rohingya children residing in camps for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are at an increased risk of the worst forms of child labor, including forced labor and sex trafficking, due to lack of schools, discriminatory policies and practices, and school closures as a consequence of ongoing violence, especially in Muslim villages. In addition, regime movement restrictions prohibit Rohingya children from leaving their villages, many of which do not have local schools, rendering them more vulnerable to child labor. Children, particularly girls, leave refugee camps to immigrate to countries such as Malaysia for marriages, but often find themselves in situations of forced labor, including in domestic work—a sector for which the regime has yet to pass a law regulating child labor. Children of other ethnic groups who are also IDPs suffer many of the same problems.

Barriers to Education Access

More than half of Burma's children are out of school. During the reporting period, the military regime issued a new private education law requiring that teachers and schools register under a new body established under the State Administration Council; failure to do so will result in fines or imprisonment. The law will close schools found to be in violation of official policy, including those with curricula involving political matters, leaving children in these schools without access to education. Additionally, armed groups continue to occupy and attack schools, making students and teachers afraid to attend. Other barriers to education in the country include costs associated with travel to schools located long distances away, a lack of schools and teachers, extra fees charged by teachers and schools, and prohibitive expenses for uniforms, books, transportation. Refugee children and children from ethnic communities who speak different languages also face barriers to education because ethnic languages are prohibited from being spoken in schools and the curriculum is only taught in Burmese. Moreover, although Burmese law guarantees education for all children, in practice, only children with national identification cards are allowed to attend school, and Rohingya are often denied nationality identity cards due to discriminatory regime policies.

‡ Age calculated based on available information

Although Burmese law prohibits persons under the age of 18 from joining the armed forces, reports indicate the regime does not take action to enforce this. In addition, Burma has penalties for perpetrators who use children in the production or trafficking of drugs; however, the law defines children as those under age 16, while international standards regarding illicit activities define children as those below the age of 18. Moreover, although Burma's Child Rights Law mandates the creation of a hazardous work list, Burma has not published a hazardous work list. Additionally, school is only required for children through age 10; however, the minimum age for work is age 14. This does not meet international standards because the compulsory schooling age does not meet the minimum age for work of 14, rendering children between the ages of 10 and 14 vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor.

It is unknown how many labor inspectors conducted worksite inspections, or whether child labor violations were found. It is also unknown whether investigations into suspected cases of the worst forms of child labor were conducted, prosecutions were initiated, or perpetrators were convicted.

For information about USDOL’s projects to address child labor around the world, visit https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/ilab-project-page-search

Burma places restrictions on freedom of association, such as requiring prior approval for union registration and limiting unions' political activities. In addition, union leaders and members have faced retaliation, harassment, and violence for their activities, which can deter workers from reporting labor abuses, including child labor.

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