Border News Agency
Myebon, September 22

Parents, family members, and local residents have confirmed that the Arakan Army (AA) is forcibly recruiting local people, including minors, in Myebon Township, which is under AA control.

Family members said that the AA had forcibly recruited most of the more than 100 young people in Ngapathon Village, Kamanthaya Village Tract, Myebon Township, including those under the age of 18.

Parents said that girls and women, including minors, were also among those taken.

“What I want is for my child to be brought back because they are underage. If they were staying by their own decision, I would not object. That is all I want to ask for. They took my child away, saying they had to go, and I was left unable to eat or sleep,” the mother of one underage recruit told Border News Agency.

Family members said that many women, including 17-year-old Ma Nang Su Wai from Ngapathon Village, Kamanthaya Village Tract, Myebon Township, had also been forcibly recruited.

They said that some of those taken were responsible for supporting their entire families. Villagers said that, rather than recruiting people through a rotating lottery system, the AA appeared to be taking nearly all the young people in the village at the same time.

“My daughter, who is in poor health, was taken. She was about to go to a clinic because she was unwell. We have medical records. She had just returned from seeing an eye specialist in Mrauk-U because she had problems with her eyes. When she became ill again, she was about to go to the clinic, but she was taken. We asked them to leave her behind, but they refused and took her away,” the mother of a woman recruited from Ngapathon Village told Border News Agency.

Family members said that 78 of the 150 young people in Ngapathon Village had been forcibly taken and gathered in Kamanthaya Village Tract before being sent for military training.

They also confirmed that the AA had forcibly recruited young people from the minority Thet community in Mrauk-U Township and from the minority Khami community in Buthidaung Township.

Arakanese residents said that the mass forced recruitment was taking place because the AA urgently needed a large number of troops. They said that AA members had been killed or wounded as a result of airstrikes by the junta.

They said that forced recruitment was taking place throughout AA-controlled areas, leading to growing criticism from those recruited, their parents, family members, and the public.

“We understand that we have to serve when people from our own community are recruited. But I think it would be better to do it within reasonable limits. In Ngapathon Village, there are more than 100 young men and women, and if all of them are taken, the village could be destroyed. We would not object even if 30 or 40 people were selected by lottery from among the more than 100 young people,” a woman from Ngapathon Village told Border News Agency.

In areas controlled by the AA, the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government is implementing emergency provisions related to national defense.

Under those provisions, men between the ages of 18 and 45 and women between the ages of 18 and 25 are being called up for military service throughout AA-controlled areas.

Political officers, area commanders, battalion commanders, and village administrators of the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government are leading the selection of those required to serve through a lottery system.

However, residents said that village administrators were no longer being informed in advance or conducting lottery selections. Instead, all young people in the communities were being forcibly recruited. Arakanese residents said that parents, family members, and villagers were afraid of the AA and therefore did not dare to speak out.

“Local people are afraid to express their opinions. They are scared. If they speak out, they worry that something might happen to their daughters. They are also afraid that their children could be forced to serve not just for a short period, but for years. Parents feel that they no longer have control over their own children,” a woman from Ngapathon Village told Border News Agency.

The Arakkha Army (AA) said in a statement issued on May 22 last year that it had enacted emergency national defense provisions on March 18, 2025.

Although the provisions set specific age limits for military service, family members said that, in practice, school students and members of Indigenous minority communities under the age of 18 were also being recruited.

They said this was creating fears that Indigenous minority communities could lose members of their younger generation. Some family members also said that such recruitment was reducing trust in the AA among Indigenous minority communities.

Family members have called for the release of students and people under 18 from Indigenous minority communities, including Thet, Mro, Daingnet, Khami, and Chin communities, who are reportedly among those recruited in AA-controlled areas. However, they said that many had not been released, leading to growing public criticism.

Indigenous minority rights activists said that minority communities should be effectively protected under the law. They also called for international actors, including neighboring countries, to monitor the situation and provide protection, and for relevant individuals and organizations to face appropriate international pressure and sanctions where warranted.

Some civil society organizations operating on the ground also reportedly have young staff members who have been called up for military service. Arakanese residents said that the lottery system used for recruitment was sometimes biased and unfair, and that people were being forcibly detained and recruited instead of being selected according to the stated provisions.

Residents also said that, in some cases, all eligible adults from the same household were required to serve. They said this had created difficulties for families because household heads were away serving, leaving their families facing problems with food, livelihoods, and security.

As opposition to the AA’s recruitment system has increased, more people have reportedly fled or gone into hiding. Arakanese residents said that the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government was responding by forcibly detaining people and sending them for military service.

The Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government has also restricted travel outside AA-controlled areas. Residents said that some people who were traveling with approval from officials of the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government were nevertheless arrested and forced into military service.

Human rights activists and military observers said that the alleged forced recruitment of people under the age of 18 may be linked to an urgent need for more troops, amid reports of heavy casualties from fighting and airstrikes.

International human rights organizations have also warned that the AA has been using child soldiers under the age of 15.

Border News Agency has received evidence that allegedly indicates that the AA has forcibly recruited people under 18 and used them as child soldiers.

The AA currently controls 15 townships, including the Paletwa area, and is developing administrative structures as the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government. It is also conducting military offensives toward Kyaukphyu and Sittwe.