"Under-age combatants - especially those who escaped after being forced to serve in the state armed forces - are currently unable to return home due to a combination of ostracism, the risk of being caught by authorities and a lack of legal protection under domestic laws. At the same time, they are reportedly afforded neither refugee nor asylum seeker status in Thailand because of their "combatant" backgrounds. In the absence of clear international and domestic mechanisms, many former child soldiers remain pariahs, awaiting a better future while confined to safe houses without a legitimate status or legal identity. These former child soldiers claim they were forcibly conscripted by the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw). The testimonies were collected in late 2011. Since then, significant changes have reportedly taken place, in terms of the attitude of the new administration, unprecedented levels of cooperation with UN agencies in initiating comprehensive plans to "dismantle" under-age recruitment, and the returning home of current child soldiers. Meanwhile, comprehensive peace talks between 11 different ethnic groups and the government have yielded tangible results, albeit without a full resolution of conflict issues. To further complicate legislation, according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, "state parties shall take all feasible measures to ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities". The optional protocol to the convention calls for all parties to conflict to take "all feasible measures in order that children who have not attained the age of fifteen years do not take a direct part in hostilities and, in particular, they shall refrain from recruiting them into their armed forces". Neither convention calls for absolute measures to end conflict, instead resorting to the term "feasible". Also, children who are between 15 and 18 years old are not fully protected, even if under-aged..."