Leaders of the Karen National Union and the Karenni National Progressive Party say they have assured UN officials at meetings in northern Thailand that they no longer recruit child soldiers.

The KNU and the KNPP appealed to be removed from the list of countries and organizations employing child soldiers in a meeting earlier this month, but the KNPP said no decision had been taken. UNICEF declined to comment on Wednesday.

KNU joint secretary David Tharckabaw said he and other officials had met representatives in Thailand of the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

KNU General Secretary Mahn Sha said although the KNU had not recruited child soldiers since 2000 it was possible that “low-level leaders” were not following orders from the top.

KNPP General Secretary Raymond Htoo said if any children applied to serve with KNPP forces they were sent off to school.

Tharckabaw assured the UN representatives that inquiries would be made into the possibility that children were serving still in units of the Karen National Liberation Army.

According to a report by the London-based Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in 2004 some 6,000-7,000 child soldiers were serving in ethnic armies in Burma.