Junta forcibly recruiting Muslims trapped in Maungdaw

By Admin 05 Aug 2024

DMG Newsroom
5 August 2024, Maungdaw

Myanmar’s military regime has been forcibly recruiting Muslims trapped in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Town, prompting many to flee to Bangladesh as of the last week of July.

“Families have fled Maungdaw due to the military council’s conscription,” said a Muslim from the Kutupalong refugee camp. “They are not allowed to take shelter in refugee camps. They have to stay at their relatives’ homes. I heard hundreds of families have fled Maungdaw.”

Bangladeshi authorities are arresting Maungdaw Muslims who are taking shelter in refugee camps, said a Muslim from Maungdaw Town.

“People have fled to Bangladesh due to the junta’s arrests here,” he said. “But then, they can’t take shelter in refugee camps. People who don’t have relatives in Bangladesh because the Bangladeshi government arrests those who take shelter in refugee camps.”

The regime has denied the reports of forcible conscription in Maungdaw, calling it false information.

Meanwhile, Muslim armed groups such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO) also abduct young people at refugee camps in Bangladesh and sell them to the military regime as forced conscripts, prompting young Muslims to flee refugee camps.

The regime introduced mandatory military service in February, requiring all men aged between 18 and 35 to serve in the military.

The regime also forcibly recruited Muslims in Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships in Arakan State and used them to fight the Arakkha Army (AA).

Hundreds of Arakanese, Muslim and Hindu residents are trapped in Maungdaw as the AA is focused on attacking border guard police battalion 5, the last battalion defending Maungdaw Town.