Youths in Paletwa Township, southern Chin State, have been banned from leaving the township under a plan to recruit them into the resistance movement, the Chinland Defence Force–Paletwa (CDF-Paletwa) announced.
The CDF-Paletwa-controlled sections of Paletwa Township are being targeted for recruitment into the resistance movement, and all except those with special health and education permits have been banned from leaving the area since December 20, the CDF-Paletwa declared.
“The ban on youths leaving is also a response to the current mass exodus from Paletwa. We’re stopping healthy youths between 18 and 35 from leaving the township. But we’ll make exceptions for those who need to travel for education or medical treatment. This is a revolution that requires the participation of the whole nation, so everyone needs to support and contribute to the resistance movement,” said Salai Saw Mya, chairperson of the Interim Khumi Affairs Coordination Council (IKACC).
Chin resistance forces said the travel ban is intended to involve Chin youths more actively in the revolution, stressing that the movement represents the people’s will and needs widespread participation across all sectors and fronts.
Some Paletwa residents said that CDF-Paletwa should have explained this decision to the public beforehand. They also noted that while CDF-Paletwa claims to have a non-alliance relationship with the Arakan Army (AA), which controls large parts of Paletwa Township, it should ensure that the restriction does not aid the AA in targeting local youths for conscription.
“Those who claim to be the governing council of Paletwa have not only failed to stop the forcible abduction of locals for conscription, but are now also banning young people from leaving the township. This effectively pushes youths into the AA’s conscription drive. We have reliable information that the AA is currently drafting young people, including underaged ones, and forcing them into military training. We’re deeply concerned that the AA will send these young conscripts to the frontlines in Arakan (Rakhine) State. If CDF-Paletwa is preventing youths from leaving Paletwa Township, it must provide a clear guarantee that they won’t be conscripted by the AA. This kind of accountability is needed not just during the current revolution, but afterward as well,” said a Paletwa resident.
Salai Saw Mya said that CDF-Paletwa has not been involved in the enumeration or recruitment of young people for conscription in AA-controlled areas of Paletwa Township.
“We’ve received information that the AA is currently counting the youths. That’s probably why many young people are worried and leaving Paletwa. Some have mistakenly thought that we’re involved in this counting, but we’re not. The AA and we are carrying out our processes separately,” he told Khonumthung News.
CDF-Paletwa has announced that local youths in Paletwa should consider joining their ranks and serving to defend their homeland, seeing it as a duty entrusted to them by history.
Since late November, the AA has been enumerating men aged 18 to 45 and women aged 18 to 35 in Paletwa Township for conscription purposes, prompting hundreds of local youths to flee the area.
The AA has reportedly set up checkpoints across Paletwa Township to monitor movement. Those eligible for military service are not allowed to leave, and only individuals who are outside the eligible age range are granted travel passes.