Publication

This paper examines what factors contribute to child recruitment in Asia. The author argues that three recruitment mechanisms are particularly dominant: forced recruitment, indoctrination and the role of government abuses in fueling recruitment by armed opposition groups. Specifically, the paper discusses these mechanisms in relation to child recruitment by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Karuna group in Sri Lanka, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) in Nepal, and the Tatmadaw (national army) and armed ethnic opposition forces in Burma (Myanmar).