A United Nations report on children and armed conflict issued Tuesday takes Myanmar to task for its failures in preventing the recruitment of children by the military in 2018 and in holding those responsible accountable for their actions, RFA reported.

“Though efforts are under way, full compliance is yet to be achieved, and aggravated cases of new recruitment occurred in 2018, with no progress on accountability,” the report concluded about Myanmar, which has a long record of child soldier use.

Both the Myanmar military and non-state ethnic armed groups have continued to recruit child soldiers and force them to fight in armed conflicts, the report said.

Myanmar military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said the figures cited in the report pertained to former child soldiers and minors who had reached the age of majority, and insisted that the army is no longer engaging in the forbidden practice.

(File) Myanmar boy wearing white shirt (2R), who was discharged from Myanmar army, walks together with his parents as they walk pass near a military man at a gate of military compound after the ceremony on handover discharged minor to parents (or) guardian in Yangon, Myanmar, 18 January 2014. Photo: Lynn Bo Bo/EPA