Myanmar’s Army Recruits Rohingyas, Seven Years After Massacre
After the Myanmar military perpetrated a massacre of thousands of Muslim Rohingyas nearly seven years ago, branding it as “textbook ethnic cleansing” by the UN, it now seeks assistance from the same community. Recent reports from interviews conducted by the BBC reveal that at least 100 Rohingyas from Rakhine State have been conscripted in recent weeks to fight for the embattled junta, with their identities concealed for protection.
“I was frightened, but I had to go,” recounts Mohammed, a 31-year-old Rohingya residing near Rakhine’s capital, Sittwe, in the Baw Du Pha camp, where over 150,000 internally displaced Rohingyas have languished for a decade. According to Mohammed, the camp leader approached him one late night in February, informing him of mandatory military training. “These are army orders,” Mohammed recalls him saying, “If you refuse, they have threatened to harm your family.”
The bitter irony persists as Rohingyas in Myanmar continue to be denied citizenship and subjected to discriminatory measures, including travel bans outside their communities. In 2012, tens of thousands were forcibly displaced into squalid camps, and in 2017, another 700,000 fled to Bangladesh amidst a brutal army crackdown. Myanmar now faces a genocide trial at the International Court of Justice for its treatment of the Rohingyas.
The junta’s desperation becomes evident as it grapples with losses in Rakhine to the Arakan Army, an ethnic insurgent group. Amidst significant military setbacks and territorial losses elsewhere in the country, including the recent loss of control over Myawaddy, the junta struggles to replenish its ranks due to casualties, defections, and lack of volunteers.
Rohingyas, who fear becoming pawns in a losing war, recount being forcibly taken to military bases, such as the 270th Light Infantry Battalion in Sittwe, a town from which they were expelled during the 2012 communal violence. “We were taught how to load bullets and shoot,” Mohammed reveals, “They also showed us how to disassemble and reassemble a gun.”