Rohingya refugees walk after crossing the Naf river from Myanmar into Bangladesh in Whaikhyang/Photo: AFP
Mizzima
The Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan ( BRAJ) has released a statement condemning the Myanmar junta’s conscription of Rohingya civilians into the army.
Below is the 16 April BRAJ statement:
The Burmese Rohingya Association in Japan ( BRAJ) is outraged, deeply concerned and condemns the forced conscription of Rohingya men into the brutal Burmese military regime services and forcing vulnerable Rohingya civilians to take part in the regime-orchestrated protests against Arakan Army (AA) in some parts of Arakan, which were aiming to destroy unity and to divide people along ethnic and religious lines.
After facing heavy loss in battles against the Arakan Army (AA), the regime has targeted the genocide-surviving Rohingya of Arakan for forced recruitment into the military services to fill its ranks. Without being given proper training, these Rohingya men are being sent to the frontlines in battles against the Arakan Army (AA). There are reports available saying that more than 1,000 vulnerable Rohingya men, who were mostly abducted from IDP camps, villages, homes and markets, have been forcibly recruited into the brutal Burmese military. There are also reports that the brutal Burmese military regime is threatening these vulnerable Rohingya at gunpoint to be conscripted.
BRAJ emphasises that the regime has progressively stripped Rohingya of citizenship, leaving them without the protections and rights that citizenship bestows, there is no legal basis for their conscription. BRAJ warns both Rohingya and Rakhine people not to fall into this evil trap of the brutal Burmese military regime.
BRAJ calls on the international community including the United Nations, European Union, The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan to exert pressure on the brutal Burmese military regime to stop this forced conscription of vulnerable Rohingya and to comply with the provisional measures mandated by the International Court of Justice in 2020.
