The video shows “compulsory military service”

The videos, believed to have been shot in Rakhine in March, raised suspicions that Rohingyas were being recruited by the junta; This was a shocking revelation, considering the group’s long-standing repression by the military.

Human rights watchdog Myanmar Witness analyzed the footage circulating online.

In one clip, an official is seen wearing a shirt bearing the insignia of the Rakhine-based Western Regional Military Command, while men who appear to be Rohingya are seen wearing uniforms that match those of the Myanmar army. Myanmar Now, an independent media outlet, reported that some people in the video were speaking Rohingya.

Investigators geolocated the images to Sittwee, the capital of Rakhine State, which is under military control.

Another video allegedly shows young, armed Rohingyas in a truck. The weapons were BA-63 rifles, produced domestically by the military-run arms industry and usually supplied to Myanmar police, said Leone Hadavi, a weapons analyst at Myanmar Witness.

acting under pressure

Rohingyas have been denied citizenship rights in Myanmar since 1982 and do not have the right to conscription. They are subjected to systematic violence by the military and deported from their homes in northern Rakhine State.

A military “clearance” operation in 2017 led to the exodus of more than 700,000 refugees to neighboring Bangladesh. This shift began with rebel attacks by the Rohingya armed group against the army, but now the junta appears to be recruiting the Rohingya.

In August, NHK interviewed a Rohingya man who claimed he was forcibly recruited by the military but managed to escape.

“About 40 people from our village were forced to participate,” he told NHK. “The army said that if they won the war, they would give us Rohingya citizenship. They warned me that if I did not join the army, they would harm my family and burn my house. I had no choice but to comply.”

The man said he was trained in the use of firearms and was assigned to guard military checkpoints.

The Arakan Army accepted the tactic as a sign of desperation by the beleaguered junta. Clashes have intensified since the Arakan Army launched an offensive last year following an alliance of pro-democracy forces and ethnic armed groups in October of the same year. Since the military’s coup in February 2021, the Arakan Army has seized territory across Rakhine State and now controls ten of the state’s 17 districts.

“The army found us a poor match even before they started forcibly recruiting Rohingyas,” Arakan Army Commander-in-Chief Twan Mrat Naing told NHK. “He began supplying Rohingya Muslims with weapons and allowed them to enter the ethnic Rakhine community and act as they wish.”

A report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) says the recruitment drive extends beyond Myanmar’s borders. It is stated that the army has recruited at least 2,000 Rohingya men from refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Some armed Rohingya groups have begun collaborating with the Myanmar military to recruit Rohingya residents both in Rakhine State and in Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, says Thomas Kean, a senior advisor on Myanmar and Bangladesh at ICG.

“Some voluntarily joined armed groups and returned to Myanmar, but the majority of those recruited did so against their will and were sent back to Rakhine State, where many were handed over to the Myanmar military. Mostly Rohingya refugees, we talked about at least not supporting Rohingya armed groups,” Kean said . “This represents a clear violation of their human rights and international humanitarian law.”

The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a draft resolution condemning the conscription campaign in July. In response, the junta denied that such a thing had happened, claiming that “the two groups of training in connection with the Military Service Act continue only with volunteers, and therefore it is not true that the army is engaged in forced recruitment.”

Claims and counterclaims

Following the reported crackdown, the Arakan Army’s fight against the army and its allied Rohingya forces has increased tensions between ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya civilians in Buthidaung Town in the northern part of Rakhine State, where many Rohingya live. The region has regularly seen deadly violence between the two groups for decades.

Allegations that the military junta burned ethnic Rakhine villages together with its allied Rohingya militants led to arson attacks against Rohingya villages causing wide repercussions.

“I believe our village was burned because we were Muslims,” ​​said the former Rohingya soldier, who fled for his life along with other residents.

The army and Arakan Army blamed each other for attacks on Rohingya villages.

Human Rights Watch conducted an investigation using satellite imagery and other evidence. He says the attacks destroyed more than 40 villages in Buthidaung between April 24 and May 21, when the Arakan Army began seizing Myanmar military bases in the area and taking control of the town, but the evidence is inconclusive.

The focus has since shifted from Buthidaung to the neighboring township of Maungdaw, which is also home to a large Rohingya population. On August 5, reports emerged that more than 200 Rohingya civilians were targeted by artillery and drone strikes.

“I saw about 17 people killed right in front of me,” one Rohingya survivor from Maungdaw told NHK. “There were drones attacking us, there were rockets targeting us. I survived, but two members of my family died. I managed to escape, but there was no peace and no safe place to go.”

A video circulating on social media shows piles of bodies scattered on the muddy ground. Both the military junta and the Arakan Army blamed each other for the atrocities. The truth still remains unclear.

cycle of violence

Fear grips all civilians in Northern Rakhine State. “Muslim militias came and took the property of Rakhine residents,” said an ethnic Rakhine woman from Maungdaw, who claimed that 200 Rakhine people fleeing the violence took refuge in a Buddhist temple.

According to ICG’s Kean, “one of the military’s strategies was to create divisions between Rohingya and Rohingya communities by recruiting Rohingya, collaborating with Rohingya armed groups, and targeting Rohingya communities. Although the army essentially lost in northern Rakhine state, it was successful to some extent in this sense .”

In October, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs issued concerns about rising tensions in Myanmar and reported violations of international humanitarian law. More than half a million people are estimated to be displaced in Rakhine State; However, due to the inability of many international organizations to access the region, civilians remain in the crossfire.