Hundreds of young Muslims have fled to Bangladesh from Maungdaw Town in the west of Arakan (Rakhine) State after 30 young men from each Maungdaw Town ward were forced to attend short-term military training.
A Muslim man from Maungdaw Town’s Myoma Ka Nyin Tann Ward said: ”A ward must gather 30 young men to serve in the military. We were informed by the Military Council that these young men must undergo military training. If they do not comply, the Military Council will arrest, shoot, and threaten them. Youths do not want to be armed and fighting. Their parents and families disagree. They cannot afford to be arrested either, because if they are caught they will be forced to fight in the war. Therefore, they have had to flee to Bangladesh.”
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), armed groups that are aligned with the junta, have been trying to convince young Muslim men to sign up for the short-term military training and to find others who will sign up for the training, so that they can all go fight against the Arakan Army (AA).
A local Muslim man said: "There are some uneducated and ignorant young people who have been convinced by them. Educated and knowledgeable Muslim youths will not join the Military Council and fight armed battles. We see that the youths brought from the Bangladesh side are also young and ignorant. The junta does not have the manpower. They are using the young Muslims by forcing them to take up arms.”
ARSA, RSO and the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA), another junta affiliated armed group, have been recruiting and forcing young Muslims in refugee camps in Bangladesh to cross the border and go to Maungdaw Town where they are conscripted into the junta army.
On 30 July 2024, more than 300 recently conscripted young Muslims were killed in fighting between the AA and the junta near Maungdaw Town.
The AA is currently engaged in fierce fighting with the junta in Maungdaw Town as it attempts to take the last junta base in the town, the No. 5 Border Guard base.
