Rohingya Forced into Myanmar’s Civil War as Foot Soldiers on Both Sides
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Young Rohingya men are being forcibly conscripted by both Myanmar’s military and rebel groups, as the ongoing civil war devastates their communities, displacing tens of thousands and leaving survivors to recount harrowing tales of violence and persecution.
For 13-year-old Mohammed Rias, December 2024 was a day he was supposed to take his exams.
Instead, he found himself fleeing his home in Buthidaung township, Rakhine State, dodging bullets to escape forced recruitment into a war that has targeted his Rohingya community for years.
“It started with the military junta dragging out young men from their homes for forcible conscription into the army to fight rebels,” Mohammed told The Independent.
“Everything was calm before that. But the recruitment drive flamed the fighting in the village.”
Mohammed described how military leaders identified young, tall, and fit men for enlistment, provoking the rebel Arakan Army to retaliate with attacks on villages, including drone strikes that killed hundreds.
“The day I left, I was supposed to take my exams. As we fled, the rebels began firing bullets and launching drones. Many were swept away by the river, and we had to walk over dead bodies to escape,” he said.
“We are being slaughtered. They [military and Arakan Army] hate us.”
Mohammed is among tens of thousands of Rohingya displaced since Myanmar’s military coup in 2021.
On Friday, the junta extended the state of emergency for another six months, marking four years since it overthrew its leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Nearly 80,000 new arrivals have sought refuge in Kutupalong, near Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, joining over 1 million Rohingya already living in cramped, temporary shelters.
These camps were established after the UN described the 2017 military crackdown on Rohingya as “textbook ethnic cleansing.”
New arrivals share similar accounts of forced recruitment, targeted killings, bombings, house burnings, rape, and torture.
Mustafa Kamal, 22, was forced to leave his sister behind after rebels abducted his nephew.
“He was forcibly recruited by the Arakan Army. At first, he was made to serve as a porter, but when fighting broke out, he was used as a human shield,” Kamal said.
Though his nephew escaped, armed men later raided their home again, torturing his parents and abducting the boy once more. His fate remains unknown.
The Arakan Army, seeking autonomy from the junta, has also been accused of extreme brutality.
Noor Fatima, 37, from Maungdaw, recounted how five rebels allegedly raped her in front of her husband, who was beaten unconscious when he tried to intervene.
“Five members of the Arakan Army barged into my home and began searching. They sent my husband outside, and two of them pinned me down while another raped me,” she said.
After days hiding in the jungle, Fatima and her family fled to Bangladesh, where she finally received medical treatment.
Others, like 60-year-old Ajju Bahar, fled after witnessing the killing of loved ones.
“That day, the military stormed into our house, and a gunfight broke out. My husband was sick and bedridden – he couldn’t run. A man in uniform shot him in the abdomen,” Bahar said.
She escaped with three of her five children, leaving two behind due to the high cost of boat fare.
Ruhul Ameen, 25, recalled the day of Eid-Al-Adha when fighting erupted in his village.
“Some people said the military set fire to the village. Almost 500 people died that day from bullets and drone attacks,” he said.
“I could not identify my cousin who died that day, and it was our last day in our homeland.”
UK aid agency Cafod, working with Caritas Bangladesh in Cox’s Bazar, warns that the Rohingya crisis has worsened since the coup.
“We are now four years on from the coup in Myanmar, and the situation for the refugees is not improving,” said Phil Talman, Cafod’s programme coordinator for Bangladesh.
“We call for renewed international attention to this crisis, more burden sharing, increased funding, and pressure on Myanmar for the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the Rohingya.”
Caritas Bangladesh has provided rehabilitation, shelter, and protection services to nearly 1.7 million refugees since 2017.
However, the agency emphasizes the urgent need for more aid and lifesaving support as the crisis continues to escalate.
