The Brotherhood Alliance, Arakan Army (AA) and People's Defense Forces (PDF) continue to attack the Myanmar junta as a result of which the army is cornered. This is the first time in Myanmar's history that the military is in such a situation. Since November 2023, the junta forces have been suffering heavy losses in the war with AA in Rakhine State. Many important cities of Rakhine State fell in the face of heavy attacks. Since then, the recruitment of new personnel in the army has been undertaken. Due to the reluctance of young men to join the army, the military junta enacted a law on February 10 mandating the conscription of all men and women between the ages of 18 and 35.
Commanders of Myanmar's junta forces met with Rohingya leaders there to recruit soldiers from Rakhine State and offered them to work for the junta forces. This offer was made to them at a time when it is trying to defeat the junta and take control of the whole of Rakhine. They were told that Rohingyas are in trouble because of this, so they should take up arms against them. They are told that if war breaks out near their villages, the army will only attack Rakhine villages, not those villages. Despite this, most of the leaders refused to take up arms against the Rakhines. The junta government also said that those Rohingya who join the army will be given Myanmar citizenship. Many believe that this proposal has been made to use the Rohingyas against each other.
Rohingyas were told that if they join the army, they will be given a bag of rice, a citizenship card and a monthly salary of 1 lakh 15 thousand chats. Despite this announcement, ordinary Rohingyas are said to be forcibly captured as they do not join the army voluntarily. Army personnel are raiding various villages and camps to arrest Rohingyas. It is believed that they will be used as human shields during the clash of the junta forces against AA. 400 Rohingya men from Sittwe and Buchidong camps are being trained for two weeks. Junta forces pressured village administrators and leaders in Buchidong, Maungdu and Sittwe — to compile lists of everyone between the ages of 18 and 35. Among these, instructions have been given to list at least 50 people from small villages, at least 100 people from big villages and each refugee camp. A list of 300 more has already been prepared in the second phase.
Another 630,000 internally displaced Rohingya are living in Myanmar. Most of them live in UN refugee camps and cannot move freely. There are about 100,000 Rohingya in 13 camps in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine. A census of Rohingya was conducted in February at a camp in Chakpiu town, with the 542nd Light Infantry Battalion counting the number. According to camp residents, the army resorted to this tactic to create discord between the Rohingya and the Buddhist Rakhine. The conscription law applies only to Myanmar nationals. Rohingyas are not considered citizens in Myanmar but are now being lured to join the army.
The influence of the Arakan Army in the Rakhine region of Myanmar has now started to increase. The aim of the Arakan Army is to achieve autonomy within a federal state system. In the meantime, the Paletoa area of the Chinese state, which is very important on the border of Bangladesh and India, has been under their control. The city is located 18 kilometers away from the Bangladesh border. Most of the Rohingya live in the northern part of Rakhine state and this has increased their activity in this area. The leadership wants to build a positive relationship with the Rohingyas and has also stated that they do not see the Rohingyas as enemies.
A look at Myanmar's history shows that the junta government has always played tricks on the fate of the Rohingya, which is still ongoing. Myanmar saw four multi-party elections from 1948 to 1962 and the Rohingya had elected representatives. On February 6, 1978, the junta government began military operations in Rakhine. About 2.5 lakh Rohingya took refuge in Bangladesh to escape from them. The junta government continued to promote them as illegal immigrants from Myanmar. Rohingyas were completely excluded from Burma's citizenship law in 1982 as illegal immigrants and became stateless.
Some incitement campaigns and incitement are responsible for the 2012 clashes between Rohingya and Rakhine in Rakhine state. Attempting to unify Myanmar's separatist ethnic groups on the basis of Buddhism promotes Muslim killings across Myanmar by portraying Islam as an aggressive religion through terrorist monks like Wirathu. In addition, to prevent a landslide victory for the Rakhine in the Rakhine elections, the junta government tried to win over the Rohingya by enticing them to recognize the Rakhine, which angered the Rakhine. In 2012, clashes between Rohingyas and Rakhines in Rakhine State left hundreds dead, displaced lakhs of Rohingyas, and continued violence in Rakhine.
The Kofi Annan Commission report said that at the request of Suu Kyi's government, the term Rohingya was not used, and they were depicted as Rakhine Muslims. In the long history of 2000 years, there has been no major conflict between the Rakhine and Rohingya communities. There was never any racial hatred between them. They worked shoulder to shoulder as mutual development partners to build an urban-centric civilization in Arakan. While the Rohingya once had active participation in the politics of Rakhine and Myanmar, they were later forcibly disenfranchised.
The Myanmar army has deprived the Rohingya of their civil rights. They were reduced to a marginal population and forced to leave the country through brutal torture. So now they have to think about how much they will keep this promise later. Earlier, many Rohingyas had citizenship cards, they were taken from them, they were not given new cards and they were deprived of citizenship. There is room to think about the possibility of granting citizenship to the Rohingyas while maintaining the constitution which denies Rohingya citizenship.
One has to wonder if the Rohingyas will have any problem getting international support and assistance if they join the side of the Myanmar junta because there are various international sanctions on the junta. Many believe that the junta government is recruiting Rohingyas into the army to stoke ethnic tensions in Rakhine state. Many believe the appointment is illegal because the junta has not recognized the Rohingya as Myanmar citizens for decades.
If they take up arms against AA, they have to take into consideration how their situation will be in Rakhine later. Rohingyas must live together with Rakhines. This promise of the army should be taken care of so that it does not boomerang again.
For so long, the military's strategy of keeping Myanmar's ethnic groups under control through repression has failed. The army was forced to withdraw from its victorious position and the balance of power shifted and suffered major shocks. The Myanmar military can naturally ask its citizens to join the army. Forcing the Rohingya to join the army suggests that the Rohingya are citizens of Myanmar but are being systematically deprived of their civil rights by the junta.
The hatred against the Rohingyas that once fueled the Rakhines to leave their villages, towns and habitats is being used against the Rakhines again. It has to be considered whether it is provoking that earlier anger. Care must be taken whether this initiative is being taken to stop the repatriation process or waste time by worsening the relationship between Rakhine and Rohingyas. The Myanmar government has told the international community that it wants to take back the Rohingya, but there has been no progress in the past seven years.
The Rohingyas themselves have to decide what needs to be done to secure the Rohingyas' place in Rakhine. Rohingyas have the experience to figure out what is right, taking into account their living conditions, expectations and achievements in Myanmar. The United Nations and international aid agencies can play a role in creating a normal living conditions and environment for them there. Everyone should aim to restore a peaceful environment between Rohingya and Rakhine in Rakhine state and create favorable conditions for Rohingya repatriation.
In an effort to avoid conflict with the Myanmar government in many UN press releases on Rakhine at that time, many press releases of the UN Myanmar office called Rakhine Muslims instead of Rohingya. On that occasion, the Myanmar government called them Bengali instead of Rohingya
Brigadier General (Rtd.) Hasan Md Shamsuddin, NDC, AFWC, PSC, M Phil, Researcher on Myanmar and Rohingya.