Regime orders forced conscription of Rohingya in Rakhine State as Arakan Army siege looms

By   English Editor    August 13, 2026

The regime’s Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs, Kyaw Thura, addresses a meeting at the Fire Services Department in Kyaukphyu Township in August 2025. (Credit: Regime)

The regime’s Arakan State administration has ordered the forced recruitment of 20 Rohingya youths per month from five Rohingya wards, including Aung Mingalar, Impala, Kondan and Bumay, in Sittwe Township, ramping up efforts to use Rohingya conscripts to defend the state capital against the advancing Arakan Army (AA).

During a meeting at the end of July, the regime’s Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs, Kyaw Thura, instructed Rohingya elders from five urban wards in Sittwe to compile recruitment lists of males aged 18 to 35 under the military conscription law.

1. Forced Recruitment Quotas and Financial Extortion in Sittwe

Residents in Sittwe reported that military authorities are also extorting local communities to finance the new recruitment drive, forcing residents to provide funds to cover the conscripts’ monthly salaries and daily food rations.

“The military is preparing to defend Sittwe with Rohingya recruits,” a Sittwe resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity

Sittwe Conscription & Defense Overview
├── Recruitment Quota: 20 Rohingya conscripts per month per ward/IDP camp (Ages 18–35)
├── Extortion Mandate: Local residents forced to pay recruits' salaries and food rations
├── Strategic Objective: Reinforce regime positions in Sittwe against advancing Arakan Army (AA)
└── Regional Control: AA controls 14 of 17 Arakan townships; regime holds Sittwe & Kyaukphyu

Since the enforcement of the conscription law in February 2024, Rohingya villages and IDP camps across Arakan State—where tens of thousands have been confined since the 2012 communal violence—have yielded at least 3,000 conscripts.

According to former National Unity Government (NUG) Deputy Minister of Human Rights Aung Kyaw Moe, at least 150 Rohingya conscripts have already been killed on the frontlines after being deployed into direct combat zones.

2. Overlap with Regional Repatriation and Stateless Status

The forced drafting of Rohingya comes as the Malaysian government prepares to execute a maritime repatriation program for 5,000 refugees—primarily Rohingya, alongside Chin and Karen displaced persons—from Kuala Lumpur back to Myanmar.

Human rights organizations emphasize that forcing stateless refugees back into Myanmar exposes them directly to forced conscription, human trafficking, and frontline military exploitation:

• Statelessness and Rights: The U.N. designates the Rohingya as a severely persecuted, stateless minority, deprived of citizenship under Myanmar’s 1982 Citizenship Law and subjected to strict movement restrictions.
• Mass Displacement: Over 1.2 million Rohingya live in precarious conditions across refugee camps in Bangladesh and neighboring Southeast Asian nations.
• Legal Mandate: Under the regime’s conscription law, eligible males (18–35) and females (18–27) face mandatory two-year enlistments, while professional specialists up to age 45 face three-year terms.

3. Arakan Army Advance and Security Measures in Northern Arakan

Since launching a statewide offensive in November 2023, the Arakan Army has seized control of 14 out of 17 townships in Arakan State, as well as Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State. Regime forces remain isolated in the state capital, Sittwe, and the deep-sea port town of Kyaukphyu, located 318 miles (511 km) to the southeast.

Military / Political Entity	Status / Regional Action
Myanmar Military Regime	Retains control over Sittwe and Kyaukphyu; enforcing forced Rohingya conscription drives.
Arakan Army (AA)	Controls 14 of 17 Arakan townships; maintains offensive surrounding Sittwe and Kyaukphyu garrisons.
United League of Arakan (ULA)	Imposed a 10 PM – 4 AM curfew in Maungdaw and Buthidaung on August 11, citing threats from armed groups.
Rohingya Armed Groups	ARSA, RSO, and ARA operating in northern border zones along the Bangladesh frontier.

Tensions between the AA, regime forces, and Rohingya communities remain acute across the tri-border region:

• Accusations of Forced Drafting: The AA has accused the regime of forcibly recruiting Rohingya to fight as proxy militias in northern border townships, including Rathedaung, Buthidaung, and Maungdaw. In June 2024, the U.N. cautioned that both the military and the AA were forcibly enlisting Rohingya civilians.
• Curfew Enforced: On August 11, the ULA—the political wing of the AA—enacted a night curfew across Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, citing security risks posed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), and the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA).
  • Emigration Restrictions: The AA continues to enforce its “National Defence Emergency Provision,” enacted on March 18, 2025, which prohibits men aged 18 to 45 and women aged 18 to 25 from leaving AA-administered territory.