Young people of Myanmar are not safe even at home
Last Updated on June 29, 2024 8:44 am
The Myanmar conflict is intensifying day by day. In Rakhine State, the insurgent group Arakan Army (AA) and the army have been fighting for a long time. The youth of Myanmar is in dire danger. Because the junta government is capturing young people and forcing them to join the army against their will. If you don’t follow the instructions, you will be sent to jail. Especially at night, if a young man is found alone, the soldiers will pick him up. The youth of Myanmar are not safe even in their own homes. Two paths were forced upon them. Either join the army or jail. Al Jazeera.
Many of the country’s youth are fleeing for their lives or to avoid joining the fighting. One such is Thura Maang. The 18-year-old lives in Maybon, a coastal town in Rakhine State. Fierce fighting started there with the Myanmar army and the pro-independence Arakan Army since November last year. The following month, Thura Maang fled the first home and crossed the river with his family. They came back after a few days. But as the fighting intensified over the next few months, Thura’s family fled their city home twice more to the countryside.
Due to the war, the university where Maang studied was closed. Disappointed with his studies, this young man said, “There is no opportunity to improve my life and I don’t see any future.” The Qatar-based media Aljazeera spoke to four young people there to find out what effect the war is having on the lives of young people.
A 27-year-old would have been another young Arkar. She used to work as an online product delivery and dance instructor in a village in Rakhine. Both his works have come to a halt due to army curfews, arrests and surveillance. Hikat said, now I am afraid to leave the house even in the afternoon. We are not safe even at home. Because the bullet flies over the roof. Along with that, bombs are being dropped on our city from the sky. In January last, the Arakan Army occupied Paukta, the town of this young man. But most of the suburbs are still under the control of the Myanmar army.
In the middle of 2021, various armed organizations across the country started a resistance war against the army. In October last year, several armed groups formed an alliance and launched an all-out war against the junta government under the name ‘Operation 1027’. The Arakan Army also joined the coalition.