Arakan Army bans young people from leaving Rakhine State

The Arakan Army (AA) announced last week that it is prohibiting young people from leaving Rakhine State under its newly imposed military service regulations. The announcement comes two months after the introduction of the group’s National Defence Emergency Provision, which requires men in the state aged 18 to 45 and women aged 18 to 25 to serve in the AA for two years. In a statement released on May 22, the AA said that those eligible for conscription will be prohibited from travelling outside the state until a stable military situation is achieved. Only patients whose lives are at risk if they are unable to travel will be exempted from the ban, the statement said. It adds that those who transport people seeking to leave their homeland despite the prohibition, whether by land or water routes, will also be prosecuted under existing laws. The statement also claims that the travel ban will serve to protect ethnic Rakhine people from the risk of being arrested, imprisoned, or killed in territories controlled by Myanmar’s military junta. Since launching a major offensive against the regime in November 2023, the AA has captured 14 of Rakhine State’s 17 townships, as well as Paletwa Township in southern Chin State. In areas under its control, it has established the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government, responsible for administering the judicial, education, and healthcare systems. Since these mechanisms require human resources, over the past three months, some healthcare and education workers, as well as other essential workers, have been prevented from leaving the state. While these measures have been met with a certain degree of acceptance from the local population, many disagree with the idea of imposing a total ban on travel. “To speak frankly, not being allowed to leave at all is inappropriate. Besides healthcare, young people and adults need to go out for education and economic purposes. If they can’t, and if they don’t have their own farms, they will starve to death,” said one woman. In the northern townships of Minbya, Mrauk-U, and Pauktaw, there have been reports of the AA calling not only on Rakhine youths, but also on young people from the ethnic Chin and Mro minorities, to serve in its ranks. Earlier this month, the Voice of Chinland, a Chin online news outlet, reported the arrest of seven Chin teenagers from Minbya at an AA checkpoint in Ann, a key gateway to central Myanmar. In February of last year, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed group allied with the AA, announced a law requiring all Ta’ang nationals aged 16 to 35 to enlist. In January, Myanmar’s military amended its conscription law to prohibit anyone eligible for military service from going abroad without prior permission. The regime has faced unprecedented resistance since seizing power in February 2021, prompting it to begin enforcing a decade-old conscription law three years later.

Arakan Army bans young people from leaving Rakhine State

The move comes two months after the group’s imposition of conscription in the state

Subscribe for full access

The Russian general behind Moscow’s decades-long military courtship of Myanmar

Explainer: Who are the companies and cronies backing Myanmar junta leader’s Thailand visit?

From palace stages to exile: A Myanmar dancer who chose conscience over ceremony

Her parents gone, a Myanmar student prays for the return of a father lost in conflict

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Myanmar junta airstrike in Paletwa kills five and injures 17, including children

How Myanmar’s regime turned a Buddhist retreat into a scene of death and destruction

Myanmar military pushes to retake oilfields and cut resistance revenue

Russian companies want majority shares in Myanmar projects