AA Urges Rakhine Youth must Choose between Killing their own People to support Junta or Join Fight to end the Dictatorship

In Gwa Township, Rakhine State, the Junta has commenced training, arming, and deploying approximately 200 civilians for operations.

In mid-March, the 562nd and 563rd battalions, stationed in Gwa, initiated military training for civilians in Chaukywar village tract and ward no. 3, aiming to convert them into militia members, with approximately 200 individuals taking part. Some individuals who received military training have been deployed by the Junta in various military operations, according to Gwa residents.

"The Junta is using militia members to maintain security and deploy them as sentinels. Observing the militia adorned in uniforms, armed with guns, conducting patrols among civilians, has frightened and distressed the people”, a local who did not want to be named told Narinjara.

Meanwhile, administrative officials, including the 10-house-group elders and 100-house-group elders in Gwa, are incentivizing individuals interested in military service by offering a monthly wage of 150,000 MMK along with provisions.

While some individuals find these incentives appealing and opt to register for military service, the majority of young and middle-aged men in Gwa choose to flee the town, despite the Junta's stringent security measures.

The problematic situation that we did not ask for, has now come to our doorsteps. Young people must consider whether they will undergo military training and kill their own people due to Junta pressure, or leave to the liberated areas to join the fight against the military dictatorship.”

In Gwa, some veterans, administrative officers, and other individuals willingly support the Junta and enlist as militia members, while others attend military training reluctantly due to the pressure they cannot avoid.

Those affected by conscription laws must carefully weigh their options”, he said. The spokesperson for the Arakan Army (AA) U Khaing Thu Kha encouraged Rakhine youths to employ any available means to evade being conscripted by the Junta.