Myanmar's military forcibly recruiting Rohingyas from displaced camps in Rakhine State

Desk Report

Publisted at 4:58 PM, Sat Feb 24th, 2024

Myanmar's military is forcibly recruiting Rohingya men from villages and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Rakhine State amid the nationwide rollout of a conscription law.

At least 400 Rohingya men have been forcibly recruited from villages and IDP camps in Sittwe and Buthidaung townships to fight the Arakan Army (AA), The Irrawaddy reported citing residents and Rohingya activists.

Nay San Lwin, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, expressed concern, stating, "The training period is only two weeks. The junta’s military can only use those who have been trained for just two weeks as human shields."

The recruitment drive follows the first-ever enforcement of Myanmar’s conscription law on February 10. Since then, the military regime has pressured Rohingya community leaders and administrators in villages and IDP camps in three Rakhine townships – Buthidaung, Maungdaw, and Sittwe – to compile lists of men aged 18 to 35 for military conscription, reports The Irrawaddy.

Community leaders and administrators were compelled to compile lists of at least 50 men for each small village and at least 100 for each IDP camp and large village.

"What we were able to confirm on Wednesday was that at least 300 people from IDP camps in Sittwe had already been drafted and are now in [military] training grounds," said Nay San Lwin.

Additionally, junta troops arrested at least 100 men from four villages in Buthidaung Township on February 18 to 19, sending them to a nearby military base for basic military training.

Notably, the conscription law applies only to Myanmar citizens, and Rohingya people are not recognized as citizens of Myanmar.

Rohingya men have reportedly been promised incentives by junta forces, including a sack of rice, a citizenship identity card, a monthly salary of 150,000 kyats (US$ 41), and the freedom to move within the state, according to Rohingya residents and activists.

Since 2017, nearly one million Rohingya have been living in Bangladesh after being displaced from Myanmar by a military clearance operation. Within Myanmar, 630,000 Rohingya are designated stateless by the United Nations, residing in IDP camps and facing restrictions on free movement in Rakhine state.

Sittwe, the state capital, has 13 IDP camps accommodating around 100,000 Rohingya people displaced by ethnic and religious violence in the western state in 2012.

 

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