Sittwe: The Burmese army stationed in Arakan State has been forcibly recruiting youth from villages to serve in the army, said a retired teacher.

"The system for forced recruitment of soldiers has been missing for a long time, but now it has appeared again. The army authority ordered village councils to recruit five youth from each village to serve in the army," he said.

The Burmese army has conscripted youth from Arakanese villages in the past by pressuring village councils, but the system had not been used for nearly a decade after people protested.

"The army authority has failed to recruit voluntary soldiers in Arakan because many Arakanese youth have refused to join the army. The army authority has resumed the old tactic for drafting soldiers in Arakan," he said.

Many local army battalions stationed in Buthidaung, Rathidaung, Sittwe, Pauktaw, Kyauktaw, Paletwa, Mrauk U, Min Bya, and Kyauk Pru in Arakan State have ordered their respective villages to recruit five youth to send to army headquarters.

In the past, many villages in Arakan had to spend a lot of money in order to recruit youth to serve in the army. Every village had to send two youths to army headquarters as the army authority collected soldiers from the villages on a quota system.

"We had to send two youths to army headquarters each year in the past. We looked for youths who were jobless, and who wanted to join the army after we paid him. We had to pay at least 200,000 kyat to a youth to get their agreement to join the army. People suffered from the system. So people opposed it and later the system disappeared," he said.

According to a local source, some USDA members and village councils in rural areas of Arakan are now organizing youth to join with the Burmese army by enticing them with money and food rations.

In Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, army authorities have also been arresting young men and rickshaw pullers during the night and forcing them to enlist in the army.

A monk from Sittwe said, "Many youths and rickshaw pullers have avoided going outside their homes after 10 pm due to fear of arrest by the Burmese army authorities. Many poor youths in Sittwe have been sent to the army recruitment unit located at LIB 20 based in the city after being arrested by army authorities."

Some parents in Sittwe are suffering from losing their children after they walked on the streets of Sittwe at night. The family members know the army authority arrested them to serve in the army, but they have not had the chance to bring their children home from the army recruitment unit.

Another source said many tribal youths, including Khami, Mro, and Rakhine in Paletwa Township have also been conscripted into the Burmese army.

The rates of disasters and loss of soldiers has been increasing alarmingly in the Burmese army, causing the army to conscript young men from anywhere they can in Arakan.