ALP recruits in Gwa Twsp 

By Admin 07 May 2024

DMG Newsroom
7 May 2024, Gwa

The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) has been finding new recruits in the Kyeintali area of Gwa Township in southern Arakan State, according to residents.

ALP members have been touring Bogale, Shaukgon, Kyaunggon and Zediwkin villages on the Thandwe-Gwa road since early May, attempting to persuade villagers to join the armed group.

“They have been touring villages in Kyeintali since May 3. They are accompanied by officials of the Gwa Township General Administration Department,” said a resident who asked for anonymity.

ALP members told residents that they could join the group if they didn’t want to be drafted into the Myanmar military. They also offered financial assistance for potential recruits, said residents.

“The regime has ordered that every household must give one man to serve in the military. ALP members told residents to join it if they didn’t want to get drafted into the military. They said they guaranteed that those who join the ALP would be exempted from the conscription law,” said a resident of Kyeintali.

Despite that claim, the ALP is publicly affiliated with the regime. The ALP/Arakan Liberation Army is a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement and has joined every major peace dialogue convened by the military junta since the 2021 coup.

Gwa Township remains under the control of the regime, and the Arakkha Army has not launched attacks on junta positions there.

DMG’s calls to ALP chairwoman Saw Mra Razar Lin to ask about the recruitment drive went unanswered.

The ALP opens its headquarters in the Arakan State capital Sittwe with the junta’s blessing.

“The ALP is protected by the regime; otherwise, it should have been already kicked out of Arakan State by now,” said one Arakan State analyst. “It can still operate in Arakan State because of its ties to the regime. The two are working together in Sittwe for military operations. The ALP will have to provide personnel when the regime needs them.”

The ALP has also urged residents trapped in Sittwe Town to join the armed group.

Since enforcing a national conscription law in February, the regime has been forcibly conscripting young men across the country, including in Arakan State. Many conscripts In Arakan State were sent straight to the front line to fight the AA after two weeks of military training.