Myanmar Army Releases 51 Child Soldiers: U.N.

Myanmar's armed forces discharged 51 child soldiers from its ranks on Thursday, bringing the total number of discharges this year so far to 93, the United Nations said. Renata Lok-Dessallien, the U.N. resident coordinator in Myanmar welcomed the discharge of the children, including those accused of desertion. she said in a statement "They should not have been in the army in the first place". Myanmar has for years been listed among countries where children have been recruited to fight, by both the government army and ethnic minority rebel groups. Since June 2012, when the Myanmar government signed a joint action plan with the United Nations to end the recruitment and use of children in the its armed forces, 646 children have been released by the army.