Nearly seven years after the Myanmar military killed thousands of Muslim Rohingyas, it wants their help.

The Rohingyas are now forced to fight for an army that does not recognise their right to live in Myanmar, thereby alienating the ethnic insurgents who may soon control most of Rakhine. Once targeted by both, they are now caught between the two sides.

Bangkok

In Myanmar, almost seven years following a brutal crackdown by the military that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Muslim Rohingyas, an unexpected shift has occurred. The Myanmar army, which has historically denied the Rohingyas' rights to citizenship and residency, is now seeking their support. This marks a significant change in the treatment and expectations of the Rohingya population by the Myanmar military.

The current situation places the Rohingyas in a particularly precarious position, as they are being compelled to join forces with an army that has previously targeted them. Furthermore, this alliance has caused tensions with ethnic insurgent groups in Rakhine, potentially altering the Rohingyas' relationships with these groups as well. Once victims of persecution from both the military and ethnic insurgents, the Rohingyas find themselves in a complex and dangerous dilemma, navigating affiliations in a conflict-torn region.



Myanmar's army massacred Rohingyas. Now it wants their help

Many Rohingya teenagers and young men have recently fled Rakhine State in Myanmar, or they've gone into hiding in the jungle to avoid conscription into the Myanmar army. Al Jazeera spoke to a 21-year-old Rohingya who recently managed to escape to Bangladesh from a military camp in Putidong. He says many of his comrades were killed in recent fighting against rebel forces. With no legal refugee status in Bangladesh, he doesn't know where he'll end up next. We were facing a very difficult situation over there with very little food to eat in the camps. After just 10 days of basic military training, they forced us to take part in battles against Arakan rebel groups. Mobile phone videos secretly filmed by Rohingya have surfaced on social media, revealing the recruitment process. There are two objectives from the military side that we can see. One is to use Rohingya youth as human shields at the battlefield, and another is to create tension between the two communities, the Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims, because this is a very sensitive issue. Tensions remain high on the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar because of fighting in Rakhine State between government forces and Arakan army rebel groups. The Arakan army Buddhists condemned the forced recruitment of Rohingya Muslims, citing their historical co-existence. It will be very hostile, like it will become and appear as religious conflicts between Rakhine community and Rohingya community. This is the plan which is looking for the Myanmar military junta. Many Rohingya described being arrested in night-time raids, coerced with false promises of citizenship and threatened with arrest, abduction and beatings. You cannot force the people or the youth to fight with them. These people have no training. They cannot protect themselves. This is against international law. We can push it to international community, even the UN. More than a million Rohingya refugees forcibly displaced from Myanmar have sought shelter here in Bangladesh. Additionally, an estimated 630,000 ethnic Rohingya Muslims designated as stateless by the United Nations face restrictions on their movement or are confined to camps in Rakhine State in western Myanmar. The Myanmar military's forced recruitment of Rohingya is the latest instance of exploitation of the ethnic community that has long complained of persecution and marginalization. Tanvi Chaudhry, Al Jazeera, Dhaka

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