UNICEF [website] urged [statement] the government of Myanmar Tuesday to protect its children, particularly those in regions most embroiled in conflict. The statement calls attention to the area of Rakhine State [JURIST report], highlighting the concern for those children who have been isolated from receiving aid as a result of internal tension. UNICEF stated that the children in Rakhine State already struggle to obtain basic levels of nutrition, health, and education. The statement calls for unfettered access to this population by health officials and teachers. The statement further urges the government to investigate the violations impacting its youth.

Human rights has been on the forefront of Myanmar’s new democratic government since ending a decades-old military rule. In June a UN expert presented [JURIST report] a report on religious, free market, political, and nationalist or cultural fundamentalism, stating that fundamentalist intolerance is growing throughout the globe and is directly contributing to infringements of the rights to association and peaceful assembly. Early this month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed [JURIST report] shock at the increasing number of children recruited and killed in armed conflicts in several countries; the government of Myanmar alone released [JURIST report] 46 underage child recruits from the military in March as part of a UN join action plan made in 2012. In May Human Rights Watch urged [JURIST report] the Myanmar Parliament to reconsider a proposed law that they say has the advocacy organization says has the potential to limit free expression and peaceful assembly. Also in May US Secretary of State John Kerry offered support to Myanmar’s newly democratic government and urged [JURIST report] the country to push more democratic reform and address human rights issues.