Arakan News Agency
The military authorities of the Myanmar junta have expanded forced recruitment of Rohingya men aged 18 to 35 in the “Aung Mingalar” neighborhood of Sittwe, while continuing to block their access to basic healthcare.
According to the Myanmar Muslims News Network, local border officials instructed the Rohingya community to provide men for military service without pay. About 60 men in Aung Mingalar were ordered to join, while 50 to 100 men from each nearby IDP camp were also summoned.
Reports indicate that officials threatened arrest for those who refused, and the Myanmar army, in coordination with local forces, conducted repeated house-to-house searches three times daily, creating constant fear among residents.
As a result of these measures, at least 25 young men were conscripted, and families were forced to pay approximately 20,000 Myanmar kyat per recruit per month, with no compensation or medical care provided to those injured during service.
Rohingya access to healthcare remains severely limited. Government hospitals have been closed or are inaccessible to them, and pregnant women are required to pay large sums for cesarean sections, while those unable to pay are denied treatment even in life-threatening cases.
Patients must pay roughly 10,000 kyat at each checkpoint, and night travel is prohibited, preventing access to hospitals during emergencies and causing unnecessary suffering and deaths.
Residents of Aung Mingalar also face food shortages, limited access to medicines, and difficulty obtaining basic hygiene supplies, while many children and youth have been forced to drop out of school due to education costs.
Previously, the Myanmar army forced more than 70 people, including 50 Rohingya, into conscription in Sittwe, coinciding with escalating clashes with Arakan (Buddhist separatist) militias in Arakan State, prompting both sides to intensify forced recruitment.
Last October, two sites in Sittwe witnessed violent clashes between Arakan militias and Myanmar military forces, with gunfire heard throughout the night.
Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State, remains one of only three cities still under the control of the Myanmar junta, which lost control of 14 other cities in the state after Arakan Buddhist militias (Arakan Army) launched a military campaign in November 2023. The conflict has severely affected the Rohingya, who have suffered violence, forced displacement, and persecution from both sides, following the 2017 genocide campaign by the Myanmar army that drove nearly one million Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
