The Myanmar military detained hundreds of children since seizing power more than a year ago, with several held ransom by soldiers and police who seek to arrest their relatives, according to a minister of the country's National Unity Government. 

Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, Minister of Women, Youths and Children Affairs Ministry in the NUG, said 287 children under the age of 18 had been detained since February 1, 2021. Most had been held in police station detention centers.

80 school children aged under 12 were detained for about 36 hours at a Buddhist monastery in Yinmabin Township in Sagaing Region, according to local media reports last month. The military targeted the area as it sought members of what is described as "armed resistance".

The whereabouts of children taken by the military since the coup are mostly unknown, according to Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe.

Htar Htar Lin's detention

She referred to Htar Htar Lin's detention, the former head of Myanmar’s Covid vaccination program, who was taken by the military in June 2021 along with her husband, seven-year-old son, and their family dog.

Lin was targeted because she had prevented the army from seizing 168 million kyat ($US94,580) and instead gave it in funding to the UN. 

“[The children] are doing nothing wrong, but the military tried to arrest the activist and also NLD members and the political activists,” said Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, National League for Democracy. “When they could not find the people, they arrested the children as a ransom. They also ask the activist to come and be arrested so that this child will be released,” she said.

A previous estimate by Unicef suggested that about 1,000 children and young people aged up to 25 years old had been held by the military without apparent reason last year.

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