Mr. Khaing Thukha, a spokesman for the Arakan Army, said that due to the military service law of the junta, those who have come to seek refuge in areas controlled by the Arakan Army will not be forced to serve in the military without their consent.
“Anyone who runs away because of the military service law, unless they are a person who has committed a crime, we accept all good people. We will try to help them as much as possible. Another thing is that we will not force anyone to serve in the military without the consent of himself or herself,” he said.
After the conspiration law was approved by the Military Junta on February 10th, people are being forced to recruit for military service in the military junta-controlled towns and cities, and Muslim refugees in Rakhine State are also being forcibly recruited, according to local residents.
“People can’t do anything without their own will. Everyone has their own passion. Those who want to be soldiers have already chosen this path from the beginning. People are staying peaceful because they don’t want to fight. They are living calmly because they don’t have a passion for war. If they recruit soldiers, not only we, the Arakanese, do not accept but also the whole country does not choose the path of being forced to serve in the military by the Military Junta. The Arakan Army has never recruited soldiers since it was founded and still has not. The statement that AA does not force people to serve in the military without their will is because they care about the wishes and rights of individuals,” said a local resident of Ponnagyun Island.
Although the conscription law is a law that summons citizens to defend their country in unavoidable circumstances only when military action is committed from one country to another, the junta recruiting soldiers for use in the civil war is an irrational action, Mr. Khaing Thukha said.
“Activating conscription laws in failed states like Myanmar is like activating a modern-day slavery system in which the terrorist junta organization can legally carry out kidnappings and illegal arrests at will. Since the terrorist SAC is not an official organization in Myanmar, it does not have the right to draft nationwide laws such as conscription laws. It is also illegal to do so,” he explained.
A local resident of Mrauk U, Rakhine State, said, “The Arakan Army has never forcibly recruited soldiers since its inception in Rakhine State. All my friends joined the army of their own free will. All those who joined are proud of it. The Arakn Army, which is doing things for all people, including the youth, will not use methods that harm the people.”
After the military junta confirmed the military service law, the Arakan Army issued a press release on February 20, calling on the people of Rakhine to escape from the military junta-controlled areas, including all the people across the country who are being oppressed by the military junta.