Myanmar army forces Rohingya, Muslim conscripts to work at Chinese-backed development projects in Rakhine State

The Myanmar military coerced around 50 displaced Muslim and Rohingya men from a camp in Kyaukphyu Township, Rakhine State into working as ditchdiggers and security guards last week outside a development and construction project with heavy Chinese investment. They were assigned to these duties near the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and deep sea port project, which constitutes a vital Chinese interest in Myanmar. Army officers, citing the Myanmar regime’s new conscription policy, had previously forced young men from the camp to undergo basic military training. As the military loses ground to anti-junta forces in Rakhine State, the regime has resorted to pressing vulnerable men from Rohingya and other ethnic minority communities into service, including deployment to the frontlines for combat. Starting on March 29, the army made the men dig ditches and stand guard in Ma La Kyun village and near the Kankawtaw pagoda, located just over six miles northwest of Kyaukphyu, according to two residents of the displaced persons’ camp where the men live, and a source connected to the security community in Rakhine State. “The army has deployed them at workplaces and entrances to the Chinese project areas,” the source connected to the security community confirmed. On March 29, junta forces arrived in large numbers at the Kyauktalone internally displaced persons’ camp—which is populated chiefly by Kaman Muslim and Rohingya people—about three miles south of Kyaukphyu, forcibly taking 50 men out of the camp in military vehicles. "The army told us that they must serve in the military for two weeks, and then took them away. Among those taken, one or two were over 50 years old, and the majority were over 30,” a man residing in the camp said, adding that two of his relatives had been taken but declining to give further information out of concern for their safety. Two days after assigning the men to stand guard near the development project, the army brought reimbursement to each of their families consisting of 50,000 kyat in cash, eight baskets (21 litres) of rice, as well as cooking oil and salt. "I didn't want the money they gave me but I had no other option, so I accepted it,” said a woman in her 50s living in the camp, who asked to remain anonymous. “Money can be earned by other means, but you can't buy back your life.” The army told the families of the approximately 50 men taken from the camp that they would be returned in two weeks, after which they would summon another 50 people for similar duties. It is unclear whether the army provided weapons to the men while making them stand guard. Myanmar Now attempted to reach Hla Thein, a spokesperson for the junta administration in Rakhine State, with inquiries on this matter but did not receive a response. Investors and officials in China have an economic and strategic interest in the development projects in Kyaukphyu Township and elsewhere on the Rakhine State coast, including pipelines used to carry imported oil, and natural gas extracted offshore, to refineries in China. The Kyaukphyu SEZ and deep sea port also has strategic importance in that it provides China with direct access to the Indian Ocean. In December, the junta touted a renegotiation of the project’s contract between the Myanmar regime and the Chinese conglomerate China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC)—the project’s controlling shareholder. However, the chair of the junta’s central working committee on SEZs admitted at the time that the terms of the contract were not substantially altered. Plight of Rohingya and Muslim IDPs in Rakhine State Interethnic conflict and persecution since 2012 have forced members of Rakhine State’s ethnic minorities—especially Muslim and Rohingya people—into displaced persons’ camps, depriving them of education, access to healthcare, and economic opportunities for more than a decade. Restrictions imposed on the camps’ residents have limited their freedom of movement. The residents of the Kyauktalone camp in Kyaukphyu Township—which is made up of at least 376 dwellings—are predominantly Muslim. In addition to Rohingya people, the camp’s population includes its earliest inhabitants, Kaman Muslims forced to flee their homes in Kyaukphyu’s urban wards amid anti-Muslim riots that broke out in 2012. Starting on February 28, more than 100 men from the Kyauktalone camp were forcibly subjected to two weeks of military training, during which only five bullets were allocated to each trainee. The training took place at the base of the army’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 542, less than a mile north of the camp. At the graduation ceremony on March 11, the army gave each trainee 50,000 kyat and a military uniform. “None of the men taken from this camp were attending the military training willingly. It's just because they can't escape. Our life is like being a ball in a game,” said the displaced woman who spoke with Myanmar Now. She added that the army had taken away three of her relatives. According to veteran Rakhine State politician Pe Than, the junta is training Muslims to pit them in combat against the Arakan Army (AA), the state’s largest and most powerful ethnic armed organisation, which has been fighting against junta forces for control of the state since November. "The fact that the military, which committed genocide against Muslims, is now forcing Muslims to fight against the AA shows their contradictory intentions and actions,” Pe Than said. “They aim to weaken both sides,” he added, referring to Rakhine people and Muslims. “If a conflict arises between the two sides, the junta will intervene and oppress both." In 2017, millions of Rohingya people in Rakhine State were forced to flee to Bangladesh amid massacres led by the Myanmar army. They have been living in refugee camps in other countries in the years since, enduring poverty, fires, and gang violence among other hardships. The Myanmar military regime, facing an urgent need for manpower after a string of battlefield losses in Rakhine State and elsewhere in the country, has organised, armed, and trained pro-regime militias called Pyu Saw Htee in some areas. The militia members typically fight alongside regular army troops and police after a short training period. Due to its shortage of personnel, the regime also reactivated a decade-old conscription law in February of this year, which requires all citizens of eligible age to serve in the military for up to five years. Regime officials have begun implementing the new conscription law by setting up population surveys and lotteries to select people for mandatory service. Although some officers said they were recruiting displaced Rohingya and Muslim people from the camp based on the new conscription policy, authorities in Myanmar have not accorded full citizenship rights to Rohingya people. State-run newspapers reported on April 3 that military training for eligible civilians commenced in the first week of April.

Myanmar army forces Rohingya, Muslim conscripts to work at Chinese-backed development projects in Rakhine State

After subjecting young men in the Kyauktalone displaced persons’ camp to military training, the army is now using them as a captive labour force, assigning them to stand guard and dig ditches at the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone

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