Asia-Pacific: S - Z

Recruits could volunteer for military service in the armed forces from the age of 16 and a half.

There were no armed forces. The minimum recruitment age to the police force was 18. Former child soldiers were left out of reintegration programmes aimed at ex-combatants.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) continued to recruit and use children, despite repeated commitments not to do so. Children in the east of the country were forcibly recruited and used by the Karuna group, a breakaway group of the LTTE, with the complicity of, and in some instances actively working with, the security forces.

The minimum age for recruitment to the armed forces was 18, and there were no reports of under-18s serving in the forces.

There were no reports of under-18s in the armed forces. Children were reported to be involved with armed separatist groups in the south. Refugees from Myanmar included former child soldiers recruited by the Myanmar armed forces and armed political groups.

There were no reports of under-18s in the armed forces. The demobilization process did not include specific programs aimed at assisting demobilized child soldiers.

The minimum age of voluntary recruitment to the Tonga Defence Services was 16.

Only male citizens over the age of 18 could be recruited for military service and under-18s could not be directly involved in hostilities. Under-18s could participate directly in military operations in an emergency situation. Male citizens turning 17 could be accepted into military schools and were recognized as servicemen on active service.