Rohingya pawns in Myanmar’s cynical conscription drive

Faced with a decline in authority and mounting territorial losses, Myanmar’s beleaguered junta has resorted to a controversial new war-fighting strategy: conscripting Rohingya Muslims under the auspices of a new People’s Military Service Law.

Enacted on February 10, the legislation has elicited widespread discontent among eligible citizens, leading some to consider emigration or affiliation with armed anti-junta groups or ethnic armies.

The junta’s recent defeats against the Arakan Army in Rakhine state, including the loss of significant territories including Pauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myay Pon, and Taung Pyo townships, as well as Paletwa Township in Chin state, are driving the regime’s desperate bid to recruit new fighters – even among those the military has historically abused and oppressed.

The junta has announced that if Rohingya men serve in the military, then each will receive a sack of rice, a citizenship identity card and a monthly salary of 150,000 kyats (US$41).

In a particularly contentious action, the military has issued a directive under the People’s Military Service Law to recruit new soldiers directly from Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe.

The order instructs camp management committees to select individuals from each camp to bolster military ranks and operations against the insurgent Arakan Army, which recently ended a ceasefire with the military and has announced its intent to seize control of the entirety of Rakhine state.

The Rohingya community has condemned the junta’s conscription drive, which many view as a reprehensible bid to use Rohingya recruits as human shields. The regime’s cynicism is blatant in light of the military’s 2017 “area