The Rohingya people are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine state in western Myanmar. Referred to as the largest stateless population in the world, the Rohingya have been denied citizenship since 1982 under the Myanmar nationality law and are still not recognized as a protected minority group. This statelessness has resulted in strict restrictions upon Rohingya freedom of movement, as well as limited access to state education and civil service jobs.

The Myanmar military has increased violence towards the Rohingya since the 1970s. The predominantly Muslim group faced persecution from the government and the Buddhist “969” movement, who are opposed to what they see as Islam’s expansion in Myanmar. In 2016, a newly formed Rohingya insurgent group claimed responsibility for the attack of border police posts and the killing of nine police personnel, which led the military to begin a major crackdown on Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine state. The Burmese military took part in extrajudicial killings, gang rape, burning down entire villages, and mass brutality against civilians. These events in 2016 laid the groundwork for what is currently being described as a genocide, officially beginning in 2017 and continuing today.

The military crackdown continued in 2017, forcing more than 730,000 people to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. Around one million Rohingya are currently living in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh. The 600,000 who remained in Rakhine state are subjected to continuous state violence and persecution, including the most recent phase of violence in Myanmar.

Myanmar was under military rule for 50 years until Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory in 2015 for state counsellor. On February 1st, 2021, the military led a coup against her, resulting in mass protests which turned into an armed uprising after the military responded with force. Since then, Myanmar has been in a state of violence and civil war, with the military fighting with armed pro-democracy groups. Though the Rohingya were experiencing devastation before this coup, the military and civil unrest added to their mistreatment in Myanmar, now including forced conscription to fight for the very army that oppresses them.

This February, the thinly stretched Myanmar military announced that it would activate a conscription law that would make young men and women subject to two years of military service if called. It is particularly difficult for Rohingya to escape this conscription, as they have extremely limited freedom of movement and have to obtain multiple approvals from various government agencies even to move villages. Though the Rohingya are not even recognized as citizens of Myanmar, the military exploits the subjugation of the Rohingya to try and turn the tide in their losing civil war.