The military council has deployed more than 800 new recruits from Training Batch 10 across Myanmar to front-line positions in Rakhine State, according to family members of the new soldiers. The recruits, who graduated on May 5, were transported via ships, aircraft, and military vehicles to various locations including Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Ann townships in Rakhine State, as well as to the Padan military zone in Ngape Township, Magway Region.
Most of the new recruits from No. 6 Advanced Training School in Taungoo were sent to Rakhine front lines, with over 300 recruits specifically deployed to the Ngape military zone, according to a family member of one of the new soldiers. The military council did not inform the recruits about their deployment to the front lines beforehand, and they only learned that they would be fighting against the Arakan Army (AA) after arriving at their destinations. The new recruits have been contacting their families seeking information about ways to defect and requesting contact numbers for assistance.
The majority of the new recruits have expressed unwillingness to engage in combat and have been asking their families for ways to surrender and contact numbers for safe passage. According to military sources, the council is deploying almost all newly trained recruits to front-line positions across the country rather than using them for rear security duties. This forced deployment of new recruits to the front lines represents another instance of the military council’s human rights violations, as these young soldiers are being sent into combat zones without proper preparation or consent.
