AA Demands Forced Conscription of Rohingya in Buthidaung

Arakan Now | 29 Jan 2026

Rohingya residents in Buthidaung Township say the Arakan Army has threatened villages and town wards, demanding forced recruitment for its armed forces.

According to local residents, AA officials held meetings in wards (1), (2), (3), (4), and (5) of Buthidaung town, as well as in the villages of Kyauk Hla Pyin, Ali Chaung, Ka kyet Pa Kan Pyin, and Bogonnah. Residents said people were summoned house by house and ordered to attend.

During the meetings, AA leaders told residents that each village and ward must hand over 50 people for military service, including 25 men and 25 women. They warned that failure to comply would result in arrests and forced recruitment, similar to actions previously carried out in Maungdaw.

Residents said AA officials set strict conditions. If a family could not provide a man or a woman, they were ordered to pay one million kyats. Officials also said that anyone living in Rakhine State must serve the AA, and those unwilling to do so should flee to Bangladesh, saying the “exit gate is open but the entry gate is permanently closed.”

On the morning of January 27, another meeting was held in Ward (5) of Buthidaung. Residents said leaders linked to the AA, repeated the same demand and set January 28 as the deadline.

A local source said AA leaders openly threatened that if the required number was not handed over, their forces would raid houses, block roads, and arrest people, taking whoever they found, as they had done previously in Maungdaw.