Junta subjects young, displaced Muslims to forced military training

More than 100 people from a Muslim IDP camp in Kyaukphyu township, Rakhine state, were forcibly taken into a battalion by junta forces and given military training starting on February 28, according to sources close to the security community in Rakhine state. About 120 men from the Kyauktalone Muslim IDP camp, located about 3 miles south of Kyaukphyu have to receive two-week military training at Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 542 based in Kyaukphyu town starting from February 28 in the name of "militia training", said a source close to the security community. Residents of the camp said that junta forces arrived at the camp, home to more than a thousand people, at around 7am on February 28, and within hours, more than 100 men were taken away in three military trucks. "After a meeting in the hall at the entrance of the IDP camp, they said, ‘you have to protect your own country, so we will provide training to you’. At around 10am, the men were taken away in three cars,” said a 50-year-old woman living in the camp. The woman said she did not know the name and rank of the army officer who took away the Muslims for military training under the pretext of 'protecting the country.' Those recruited for military training are mostly young Muslims between the ages of 18 and 35, including some men in their 50s. The military training will last for about 2 weeks, and during that time, the junta army is planning transportation for the trainees. LIB 542, which is responsible for providing this military training, operates under the command of the Toungup-based Military Operations Command 5 operated under the Western Regional Military Command. On th e morning of February 27, junta army officers from Western Regional Military "They told us that the trainees would be transported back to the camp at 4:30pm. So, the trainees will have to go to the training site in the morning, and return to camp in the evening. They said the training will last for 2 weeks," said the aforementioned woman living in the camp. The junta army, facing an urgent need for enough manpower, has organized civilian militia groups especially Pyu Saw Htee in various parts of the country, equipped them with weapons, and deployed them alongside soldiers and police. This method has begun to be employed in Rakhine state, where the army massacred locals and burned their homes. The ethnic conflict that began in 2012 has left Muslims living in IDP camps with an uncertain future and limited freedom of movement outside the camps; so there are just very limited options to avoid the junta's military training. Myanmar Now had the opportunity to speak with a young Muslim resident of Kyauktalone camp a few days ago, and he said that he and his friends did not wish to attend the junta army's military training. "They (the army) will use us. I just want to work for my livelihood and live quietly," said a 24-year-old father of two who introduced himself as Yan Kin. During the third week of February, joint police officers, army officers, and Military Security Affairs officers visited the IDP camp, conducted a census of the population, and began persuading the young men and women living in the camp to attend military training. In that situation, dozens of young Muslims who did not want to join the junta army fled the camp, pretending to go fishing. Myanmar Now has learnt that the youths who fled are currently seeking shelter with the Arakan Army (AA). On February 26, the junta also arrested some family members (of the fled youths) who remained in the camp. The family members arrested by the junta include two wives of escaped youths, two children, including a one-month-old, and a paralyzed man in his 60s. Among those arrested was a man named Ko Ko Aung, who spoke to RFA news agency, and it is known that all of them were arrested at Kyaukphyu Township police station. "I sympathize with the situation Muslims are in now; they don't have as many options as we do," said a 40-year-old Rakhine man who runs a trading business in Kyaukphyu. Built on an open field near the Kyauktalone pagoda in the south of the town, the Kyauktalone IDP camp comprises 376 houses, and there are about 160 people between the ages of 18 and 35 among the population. Kyauktalone Muslims IDP camp in Kyaukphyu (Photo: Google Earth) The Muslims from the camp were former residents of Kyaukphyu town’s wards, namely Ah Yar Shi, Paik Thei, Than Pan Chaung and Pyin Hpyu Maw. Following the ethnic conflict that erupted in 2012, which resulted in the destruction of their homes, they were compelled to seek refuge in the Kyauktalone camp, according to a former MP in Kyaukphyu. Myanmar Now contacted at least five residents of the camp. When they were asked questions, most of them expressed fear and hesitated to provide details of the current situation. A woman said that the junta officers threatened to confiscate the telephones of the camp residents. A senior resident of the camp told Myanmar Now on Monday that an army officer said that after two weeks of military training, the Muslim youths would not have to fight by themselves, but would have to patrol with junta troops. The 70-year-old resident said that the junta's above action is only a plan that will create a conflict between Rakhine and Muslims. Starting this month in Rakhine state, the junta is targeting Muslims and coercing them into mandatory military service. The Muslim community and local press reported that the junta had arrested several hundred Rohingyas in Sittwe and Buthidaung Township for mandatory military service. Junta's troops entering the camp on the morning of February 27 (Photo: Arakan Princess Media) The National Unity Government (NUG) Deputy Minister for Human Rights said that the military council, faced with the challenge of losing control in Rakhine state, is arresting many Rohingyas, and this action is inciting hatred between racial groups. "There are Rohingyas who have been arrested by the military council's forced recruitment because there is no way to escape. There may be more in future. If the Rohingyas who are in such a desperate situation were hated by other groups, and if those groups wanted to blame them (Rohingyas), they would have to understand that they are being manipulated by the trickery planned by the military council," said NUG Deputy Minister Aung Kyaw Moe, who is also a Muslim. "The military council is fostering distrust among ethnic groups, and if there is a conflict between them, the military council will exploit it. So, the military council will try to make it actually happen. Therefore, I urge everyone to respond with great foresight." The junta, which is targeting Muslims, is also restricting the rights of Arakanese youths to enter and leave the Rakhine state. During the third week of February, hundreds of Arakanese youths who had returned from Yangon were being arrested by junta forces at Sittwe and Kyaukphyu airports. The junta is actively pursuing and arresting young people intending to return to Rakhine from Yangon via the airport and the Yangon highway bus terminal. The junta is planning to repatriate more than 100 Arakanese youths who were arrested at Kyaukphyu Airport while returning from Yangon. They are currently detained in Ramawaddy Hall in Kyaukphyu. It is reported that these young people have been asked to provide funds for their travel expenses. The goal of the junta is to dissuade Arakanese youth from joining the AA. Many local Arakanese youths are serving in the AA, which is over 30,000 strong. Since November, fighting has been going on fiercely in Rakhine state where the AA has been attacking the junta, and the AA has a military advantage. AA has occupied the towns of Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Pauktaw, Myebon, and Taungpyo in Rakhine state and Paletwa in Chin state, and likely to launch offensives on Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. Armed resistance emerged in response to the junta army’s shooting and killing of peaceful protesters on the streets following a coup in 2021. The revolutionaries allied with ethnic armed groups and launched attacks against the junta, compelling the junta to confront a widespread war front across the country.

Junta subjects young, displaced Muslims to forced military training

Faced with intensifying assaults from the Arakan Army (AA) and defending , the junta, defending itself on multiple fronts, has targeted Muslim youths in IDP camps in Rakhine State to bolster their much-needed military strength.

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