Displaced Childhoods: Human Rights and International Crimes against Burma’s Internally Displaced Children

By Partners Relief, Free Burma Rangers • April 10, 2010

Displaced Childhoods is the first comprehensive report of its kind to document the experiences of internally displaced children against the backdrop of Burma’s obligations under domestic and international law.

For more than 40 years, Burma’s children have been scarred by death, destruction, loss and neglect at the hands of Burma’s military. They have been forced from their homes and villages, subjected to extreme human rights violations such as rape and forced labor, and left to fend for themselves in displacement settings without access to even the most basic care. It is estimated that there are just over 1 million displaced children inside Burma today.

This report:

Examines the reasons for and types of displacement the children of Burma face.
Documents how childhood is often disrupted by violence, insecurity and poverty.
Concludes by presenting evidence of how Burma’s military government, the State Peace and Development Council, is flagrantly contravening its legal obligations under international law.
Calls for a formal investigation through a UN commission of inquiry to evaluate allegations of international crimes committed against the civilian population in Burma.

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