Myanmar's Forced Recruitment of Rohingya Exploits Genocide Victims
April 11th, 2024
Justice For All Canada condemns the Myanmar military’s recruitment of over 1,000 Rohingya Muslim men and boys from Rakhine State. Taking place since February 2024, these actions blatantly violate conscription law by pressuring and coercing Rohingya, a population long denied citizenship rights under Myanmar's discriminatory policies.
Reports detail harrowing experiences where Rohingya were abducted during nighttime raids, deceived with false promises of citizenship, and subjected to threats of arrest, abduction, and violence. The military has exploited these individuals, sending them to abusive training programs before deploying them to the front lines, resulting in casualties and injuries. Rohingya as young as 15 have been forcibly taken, with promises of citizenship cards and monetary incentives used as manipulative tactics.
“Rohingya people being forced to join the Myanmar army by the same entity responsible for years of genocidal massacres and discriminatory policies against them is a reprehensible act of exploitation,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada. “This forced recruitment into abusive training and combat victimizes a community already subjected to severe human rights violations,” added Ghayyur.
Rohingya are genocide victims who endure daily apartheid-like systems in Rakhine State. In 2012 tens of thousands of Rohingyas were driven out of their homes and forced to live in squalid camps. In August 2017, 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, after the army launched a brutal clearance operation against them, killing and raping thousands and burning their villages.
Today, those Rohingya remaining in Myanmar are subjected to abuse, deprivation, and severe restrictions on movement and access to basic services. For decades, they have faced systematic discrimination and violence at the hands of the Myanmar military and government. Approximately 630,000 Rohingya are trapped in this oppressive environment, with 150,000 held in open-air detention camps. The 1982 Citizenship Law rendered the Rohingya stateless, stripping them of basic rights and subjecting them to marginalization and exclusion.
Adding to this backdrop is the ongoing armed conflict in Rakhine State between the junta and the Arakan Army armed group since November 2023. This conflict has intensified the suffering of the Rohingya, as they are caught in the crossfire and targeted for forced recruitment.
The ongoing forced recruitment campaign constitutes arbitrary detention under international law and violates the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Myanmar in 2019. This law normally prohibits the conscription of anyone under 18 into armed conflict. As one of the first nations to formally recognize the Rohingya genocide and extend humanitarian aid, the Canadian government should lead diplomatic efforts to pressure Myanmar to cease its forced recruitment and demand accountability for manipulative tactics being used.
Justice For All Canada condemns the Myanmar military’s recruitment of over 1,000 Rohingya Muslim men and boys from Rakhine State. Taking place since February 2024, these actions blatantly violate conscription law by pressuring and coercing Rohingya, a population long denied citizenship rights under Myanmar's discriminatory policies.
Reports detail harrowing experiences where Rohingya were abducted during nighttime raids, deceived with false promises of citizenship, and subjected to threats of arrest, abduction, and violence. The military has exploited these individuals, sending them to abusive training programs before deploying them to the front lines, resulting in casualties and injuries. Rohingya as young as 15 have been forcibly taken, with promises of citizenship cards and monetary incentives used as manipulative tactics.
“Rohingya people being forced to join the Myanmar army by the same entity responsible for years of genocidal massacres and discriminatory policies against them is a reprehensible act of exploitation,” said Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director of Justice For All Canada. “This forced recruitment into abusive training and combat victimizes a community already subjected to severe human rights violations,” added Ghayyur.
Rohingya are genocide victims who endure daily apartheid-like systems in Rakhine State. In 2012 tens of thousands of Rohingyas were driven out of their homes and forced to live in squalid camps. In August 2017, 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, after the army launched a brutal clearance operation against them, killing and raping thousands and burning their villages.
Today, those Rohingya remaining in Myanmar are subjected to abuse, deprivation, and severe restrictions on movement and access to basic services. For decades, they have faced systematic discrimination and violence at the hands of the Myanmar military and government. Approximately 630,000 Rohingya are trapped in this oppressive environment, with 150,000 held in open-air detention camps. The 1982 Citizenship Law rendered the Rohingya stateless, stripping them of basic rights and subjecting them to marginalization and exclusion.
Adding to this backdrop is the ongoing armed conflict in Rakhine State between the junta and the Arakan Army armed group since November 2023. This conflict has intensified the suffering of the Rohingya, as they are caught in the crossfire and targeted for forced recruitment.
The ongoing forced recruitment campaign constitutes arbitrary detention under international law and violates the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Myanmar in 2019. This law normally prohibits the conscription of anyone under 18 into armed conflict. As one of the first nations to formally recognize the Rohingya genocide and extend humanitarian aid, the Canadian government should lead diplomatic efforts to pressure Myanmar to cease its forced recruitment and demand accountability for manipulative tactics being used.