The Junta troops arrested another 25 Rohingya Muslims from Sittwe, Rakhine State's capital, compelling them into military service.
"I witnessed a Tuk Tuk arriving from Sittwe with seven passengers, and both the driver and passengers were arrested. I saw Muslims being detained, but I cannot confirm if any Rakhine people were among them”, a local of Aung Mingalar ward said.
The Junta forces arrested men from Basara and Mawtheenyar Muslim villages, and also threatened family members following the escape of five out of nine individuals detained from Basara village, as reported by a Muslim social activist from Sittwe.
"In Mawtheenyar, four people were taken by the authorities. From the nine individuals arrested in Basara, five managed to flee. The Junta soldiers threatened to harm the families of those five if they refused to surrender. I have also heard about more arrests in other villages for military service, but it cannot be verified yet”, he said.
The Muslim social activist from Sittwe expressed a wish for peaceful coexistence without ethnic or religious conflicts in Rakhine State, but noted that the Junta’s actions are exacerbating tensions and fueling rifts between Rakhine people and Rohingyas in the region.
On March 26 in Aung Mingalar Ward, Sittwe Township, Junta troops intercepted an Indian auto rickshaw and arrested the 7 local passengers, while previously, on March 25, Junta forces had already apprehended 4 individuals from Basara village near Sittwe, 10 from Aungdaing village, and 4 from Mawtheenyar, bringing the total number of arrests to 25.
The Muslim social activist added, "The conscription law, tied to citizenship, exempts us due to our non-citizen status, yet we are treated as if we are, only to be drafted into the military. This treatment is unacceptable. They arrest and force us into military service due to their conflict with the Arakan Army (AA), pitting us against Rakhine people. AA garners significant public support, and being compelled to fight against them feels like being pushed to the edge”, he added.
Forced arrests and compulsory military service by the Junta are ongoing in Rohingya IDP (internally displaced people) camps like Darpaing and Bawdupha in Sittwe Township, as well as in other Muslim villages, with reports suggesting the involvement of at least 600 Muslims in military training.
Following reports from the Muslim community indicating that the Junta deployed Muslims trained briefly in Sittwe Township for the Rathedaung offensive, AA disclosed on March 20 the discovery of bodies, identified as Junta soldiers and Muslims dressed in military attire, following AA's capture of the 536th, 537th, and 538th Light Infantry Battalions stationed in Rathedaung.
Reports have emerged of hundreds of young and middle-aged Muslim men being detained for mandatory military service in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships.
