At least 43 children have been killed by Myanmar's armed forces in the two months since the junta seized control in a military coup, according to Save the Children.
In a press release, the group said the death toll of children had more than doubled in the past 12 days, "demonstrating the utter disrespect of armed forces for the lives of children".
“This is a nightmare scenario unfolding," Save the Children said.
“It is especially horrifying that several of these children were reportedly killed at home, where they should have been safe from harm."
A six-year-old was the youngest fatality, while a one-year-old was injured when he was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet, the group said.
At least 538 civilians in total were killed in the protests, 141 of them last Saturday, the bloodiest day of the unrest to date, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Save the Children, who also reported an attack on a school in Kayin State on March 29, said fear, stress, and grief from the violence was having a "deep impact" on the mental health of millions of children in Myanmar.
"Grieving families — among them young children who have seen siblings die — are suffering unimaginable loss and pain."
UN drop threat of future action
The United Nations Security Council strongly condemned the use of violence against peaceful protesters in a press statement released late on Thursday (local time), but dropped the threat of possible future action against the military.
The British-drafted press statement, approved by all 15 council members after intense negotiations that began Wednesday, expressed "deep concern at the rapidly deteriorating situation" in Myanmar and reiterated the council's call on the military "to exercise utmost restraint".
The original draft was much stronger and would have expressed the Security Council’s "readiness to consider further steps", which could include sanctions.
It would also have "deplored" the use of violence against peaceful protesters and "condemned in the strongest terms the killing of hundreds of civilians by the security forces".
But at China's insistence, the reference to "further steps" was eliminated and the stronger language, including the words "killing" and "deplore," was softened in the final statement, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions were private.
The final council statement called "on all sides to refrain from violence" -- which diplomats said Russia demanded.
The press statement followed Wednesday’s closed council meeting at which the United Nations special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, warned that the country faced the possibility of civil war "at an unprecedented scale" and urged the Security Council to consider "potentially significant action" to reverse the coup and restore democracy.
She urged the council "to consider all available tools to take collective action".
The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions.
The United Nations announced they would evacuate family members of its staff in Myanmar amid the violence.
A social media post from the United Nations said the evacuation was expected to be a temporary measure and no staff would be leaving.
ABC/wires
