There are concerns that the Rohingya men being forcibly recruited by the Myanmar military from camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) and villages in Rakhine State could be used as human shields.
Since Myanmar’s conscription law went into effect on February 10, there has been a recruiting drive. However, campaigners and locals are concerned that unskilled recruits may be used in the continuing violence.
According to estimates, at least 400 Rohingya males have already been forced to enlist in the junta’s military and are only sent for a two-week basic training course.
Co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition Nay San Lwin voiced concerns about the short training period, saying, “Those who have been trained for just two weeks can only be used as human shields by the junta’s military.”
Rohingya men in the townships of Buthidaung and Sittwe have been the main targets of forced recruitment.
The junta has increased its pressure on officials and leaders of the Rohingya minority to assemble names of men between the ages of 18 and 35 in preparation for conscription.
At least 300 people from Sittwe’s IDP camps have been drafted as a result of this action, which is viewed as a clear breach of Myanmar’s conscription laws. Plans are also in place for more conscriptions from other regions.
According to reports, if Rohingya men enlist in the military, they will receive a $41 monthly income, a citizenship identity card, and a bag of rice.
The Rohingya community, who are not acknowledged as citizens of Myanmar, is concerned about forced recruitment because they believe that they or a loved one may eventually be the subject of conscription.
The first 300 Rohingya men are at the Artillery Battalion 373 base in Sittwe, where they are completing basic military training.
In response to the horrors and violations of human rights committed by the junta, Nay San Lwin has demanded prompt and decisive international action.
He has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and surrounding nations to step in more forcefully.
As a result of severe losses in combat against the Arakan Army (AA), the military of Myanmar has turned to forced recruitment in the midst of continuous hostilities.
On October 27, 2023, the AA, a member of the Brotherhood Alliance, began Operation 1027 in northern Shan State, taking control of many junta strongholds and outposts.
The issue is more complicated since the junta’s military is up against an army that is accustomed to the terrain of Rakhine State and has the backing of the populace.
