➔ Forced Conscription Across Maungdaw township, more than 2,500 Rohingya men are believed to have been abducted by the AA for the purposes of forced recruitment. ‘They have reportedly been taken to the AA headquarters in Kha Maung Seik in northern Maungdaw. Many are believed to have been taken to the frontlines to fight against the SAC and allied Rohingya armed groups.’ According to local media reports, the AA uses the Rohingya conscripts as forced labour on a daily basis, described in more detail below by the BROUK in its report. “Forced recruitment by the AA has also continued in ButhidaungTownship. In late October, the AA issued orders to at least five villages in southern Buthidaung Township. A Rohingya resident explained: Smaller villages are required to provide 30 youths, while larger villages must provide 90. These youths will be recruited into the Arakan Army to fight against the Military Council and the Rohingya armed groups...Additionally, any individuals with connections to the Military Council or the Rohingya armed groups must be handed over to the AA. If they fail to comply, the AA will continue conducting operations in the villages.” Survivors explain that young men were either pressed into service or taken by force when they refused. The testimonies disclosed that they do not want to be a part or attend any military training. However, at the same time, they do not have any choice but to join and fight alongside the military. For example, one man in his statement testified that "If we refuse conscription, the junta will arrest our families. We have no choice, we can’t escape their forced recruitment, and there’s nowhere to run. The regime is using us as tools in their war." Another young man from a record of testimonies added, "If a person flees instead of joining the military, the group detains his relatives and forces them to serve. And if a conscript skips training, they arrest and torture his family member, a relative, or his parents instead. While Soyed’s immediate family was spared, many others in Kelaidaung (Khi Hlai Daung) were not. He personally knows at least 30 individuals who were forcibly conscripted by the AA or the Myanmar military. These were young men and boys, many of them taken from their homes or ambushed in the fields. Once conscripted, they were thrown into open war, often used as human shields or assigned to frontlines without 68