Muslim conscripts sent to front line in Kyaukphyu Twsp

By Admin 28 Mar 2024

DMG Newsroom
28 March 2024, Kyaukphyu

Myanmar’s military regime has begun sending Muslim refugees it conscripted from a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, to the front line.

A group of about 50 Muslim men detained from the Kyauktalone IDP camp were sent on Thursday to three locations in Kyaukphyu Township where junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA) are fighting.

“Muslim refugees were taken by car from Battalion 542 around 9 a.m. today. I learnt they were sent to outposts inside and outside the town that have been frequently attacked,” said a Muslim man who fled the camp last month to avoid conscription.

Junta and AA troops have clashed at least four times near Mala Kyun, Pyaing Saeke and Thit Poke Taung villages since early February, and military tensions are still running high there.

More than 1,000 Muslims are taking shelter at the Kyauktalone displacement camp. Junta troops came to the camp in the last week of February, registering eligible persons at the camp.

Some 30 men and women managed to flee to avoid conscription, but more than 100 men left at the camp were forcibly detained by the regime. They were then given military training at Battalion 34 in Kyaukphyu for nearly a month, before being sent to the front line.

“After we fled, over 100 men left at the camp were detained and tortured. Of them, those who are fit enough [to serve in the military] were forcibly recruited, and have been sent to areas where military tensions are running high,” said another Muslim IDP who fled the Kyauktalone camp to avoid conscription.

Most of those who fled the camp are currently taking shelter in an area controlled by the AA.

The regime has threatened to deport them, and arrest their family members, unless they return to the camp. It has also reportedly threatened to kill the relatives of Muslim conscripts who flee the battlefield.

A relative of one draftee said: “We can’t reject conscription. We are in a tight corner as we live in an area controlled by the regime. We wish we had escaped from the persecution as early as possible.”

DMG reached out to junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun, but he did not answer DMG’s phone calls. The regime has denied the conscription of Muslims in Arakan State.

The regime has also coerced Muslims into staging protests against the AA in what critics have called an attempt to stir up racial tensions between the two communities. The AA has urged local people to exercise caution to avoid falling into the political snares of the regime.