Young Rohingya men are being forced to fight as foot soldiers on both sides of Myanmar’s brutal civil war

For 13-year-old Mohammed Rias, it was the time of exams, a time to enactment each that helium had learned to the test.

But alternatively of settling down successful a classroom, helium recovered himself fleeing his home, dodging a hail of bullets to flight forced conscription into a warfare which has persecuted his assemblage for years.

Mohammed is simply a Rohingya who, until recently, was surviving successful the Buthidaung township successful Rakhine State, occidental Myanmar. For years, his assemblage has been targeted by the junta who overthrew and imprisoned the antiauthoritarian person Aung San Suu Kyi successful 2021.

Now the military – and the rebels they are warring who privation independency – are preying connected the Rohingya again by forcing them to combat arsenic ft soldiers.

Recalling unspeakable horrors that nary teen should person to unrecorded through, Mohammed describes however his household of 7 made a tally for their lives successful December 2024.

“It started with the subject junta dragging retired young men from their homes for forcible conscription into the service to combat rebels,” helium tells The Independent. “Everything was calm earlier that. But the recruitment thrust flamed the warring successful the village.”

Mohammed describes however subject leaders successful Myanmar would place young, tall, and acceptable men and forcibly enlist them, which enraged the rebel Arakan Army. In retaliation, the rebels launched attacks connected villages, sometimes utilizing drone strikes that killed hundreds.

“The time I left, I was expected to instrumentality my exams. As we fled, the rebels began firing bullets and launching drones. Many were swept distant by the river, and we had to locomotion implicit dormant bodies to escape.

“We are being slaughtered. They [military and Arakan Army] hatred us,” helium says.

Mohammed is among tens of thousands of Rohingya who person been forced from their homes successful Myanmar implicit the past 4 years. On Friday, the ruling subject extended the authorities of exigency for different six months, a time up of the four-year day of the coup.

Nearly 80,000 caller arrivals person sought refuge successful the densely packed camps successful Kutupalong, adjacent Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar – the nearest harmless portion - aft getting caught successful the crosshairs betwixt the subject and rebel groups.

They articulation 1 cardinal compatriots already surviving successful and astir steep, deforested, sandy hills, wherever lone impermanent shelters are allowed aft they escaped what the UN called “textbook taste cleansing” successful 2017.

Dozens of caller arrivals similar Mohammed stock akin accounts of forced recruitment by some sides, targeted killings of those attempting to flee, bombing attacks connected civilians, the burning of houses, and wide rape and torture.

The persecution has persisted for decades. In 2012, tens of thousands were driven retired of mixed communities and forced to unrecorded successful squalid camps. The worst unit came successful 2017 erstwhile the Myanmar subject carried retired a brutal clearance operation, sidesplitting an estimated 10,000 people, raping and murdering thousands, and burning full villages.

Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, became a arguable fig erstwhile she refused to condemn the brutality and defended the subject authorities astatine The Hague successful 2019. Imprisoned soon aft the coup, she has spent astir of her clip successful solitary confinement.

Rohingya Muslims are inactive denied citizenship and look terrible restrictions successful Myanmar, including a prohibition connected question extracurricular their communities.

Among those who person fled precocious is Mustafa Kamal, 22, who was forced to permission his sister behind: “One day, the rebels barged into our location and took distant my young nephew, who was inactive successful precocious school.

“He was forcibly recruited by the Arakan Army. At first, helium was made to service arsenic a porter, but erstwhile warring broke retired betwixt the rebels and the military, helium was utilized arsenic a quality shield. Fortunately, helium survived and escaped astatine the archetypal accidental helium got.”

But the boy’s ordeal didn’t extremity there. Armed men raided his location again, tortured his parents, stole their money, and abducted him erstwhile more. His destiny remains unknown.

The Arakan Army, a subject helping of the Buddist Rakhine taste radical successful the occidental Rakhine state, is seeking autonomy from the cardinal authorities successful the state which is being tally by the junta.

But stories of their utmost brutality person emerged successful the exile camps.

Noor Fatima had conscionable taken a bath successful her colony successful Myanmar erstwhile 5 Arakan rebels allegedly charged into her location and raped her successful beforehand of her husband, leaving her bleeding. They bushed up her hubby erstwhile helium tried to prevention her.

The 37-year-old mother, from Maungdaw, a municipality successful Rakhine State successful the occidental portion of Myanmar, knew she and her household had to flee.

For 3 days, Ms Fatima, her husband, and their 4 children were stranded connected the Naf River, the earthy borderline betwixt southeastern Bangladesh and northwestern Myanmar, without nutrient oregon water. Their travel to Bangladesh came to a halt erstwhile they spotted Bangladeshi forces.

Turning backmost was not an enactment for the family. They had already spent days hiding successful the jungle, escaping some the junta and rebel groups. Desperate, they decided to participate Bangladesh, adjacent if it meant being arrested oregon changeable by Bangladeshi soldiers.

Recalling her horrific ordeal with tears rolling down her face, she says: “Five members of the Arakan Army barged into my location and began searching. They sent my hubby outside, and 2 of them pinned maine down portion different raped me.

“My hubby heard my screams and came running, but the different 2 men brutally bushed him, striking his caput with the butt of a weapon and knocking him unconscious.”

Ms Fatima’s neighbours carried her injured hubby to a doctor. However, they were soon forced to tally again aft stumbling upon dormant bodies near down pursuing a weapon conflict betwixt the junta and Arakan Army fighters.

“We were some heavy injured, drinking h2o from the stream wherever the bodies of those killed portion fleeing were floating,” she says.

It was lone aft arriving successful Bangladesh that Ms Fatima yet received attraction for her injuries. Her chap displaced Rohingya unrecorded successful impermanent shelters marked by the agleam logos of planetary alleviation organisations.

Crippling shortages of food, water, and healthcare, on with restrictions connected question which person lasted for months oregon adjacent years, person forced these radical retired of Myanmar.

Many person arrived aft leaving dying household members behind. Ajju Bahar, 60, says fleeing was her lone accidental to past and rescue her children.

Draped successful an orangish shawl, she recounts the past clip she saw her husband.

“That day, the subject stormed into our house, and a gunfight broke retired betwixt the Arakan Army and the soldiers. My hubby was sick and bedridden – helium couldn’t run. A antheral successful azygous pointed his weapon astatine him and changeable him successful the abdomen,” she says.

She turned backmost 1 past clip to glimpse her hubby but knew she couldn’t transportation his body. She fled with her 5 children but was forced to permission 2 behind, incapable to spend the vessel fare. The boatman demanded 300,000 Myanmar kyat (£115) per person.

“I americium poor. We couldn’t enactment due to the fact that of the unrest, and I didn’t person capable wealth for my 2 sons,” she says.

Ruhul Ameen, 25, recalls the time of Eid-Al-Adha and they were preparing for a feast erstwhile radical began screaming arsenic warring broke retired betwixt the subject and the rebels.

“Some radical said the subject acceptable occurrence to the village. Almost 500 radical died that time with slug injuries and drone attack,” helium says. “Bullets passed from everyplace arsenic we tried to tally the subject which was connected vehicles portion we ran connected foot,” helium added.

“I could not place my relative who died that time and it was our past time successful our homeland,” helium says.

UK assistance bureau Cafod, which is moving successful Cox’s Bazar successful concern with Caritas Bangladesh, says the concern of Rohingyas successful Myanmar has deteriorated adjacent much since the 2021 coup, calling for an planetary attraction connected the crisis.

Phil Talman, Cafod’s programme coordinator for Bangladesh, says: “We are present 4 years connected from the coup successful Myanmar and concern for the refugees is not improving. The important assistance cuts and declining backing for this situation is putting lives astatine risk.

“On this day of the coup, we telephone for a renewed planetary attraction to this crisis, much load sharing crossed countries successful the region, accrued backing and accrued unit connected Myanmar for voluntary, harmless and dignified instrumentality of the Rohingya.”

Caritas Bangladesh says that it has conducted the rehabilitation, shelter, enactment and extortion services among others for astir 1.7 cardinal refugees surviving crossed the campy since 2017. It said the radical are successful dire request for much assistance and lifesaving enactment to refugees.