The Arakan Army must stop using ethnic minorities in Rakhine for dangerous forced labor at the conflict frontlines: Fortify Rights

Key Findings

• The AA is using forced labour of ethnic minorities — including Rohingya Muslims, Hindus, Chakma and others — in dangerous wartime conditions in Rakhine State.

• Survivors described being threatened at gunpoint, detained arbitrarily, and forced for months to:

  • carry ammunition and supplies (“portering”)

  • build and repair fortifications, trenches, bunkers, battalion compounds

  • perform hard labour such as clearing vegetation, maintaining roads, farming and tending livestock, etc.

• These activities occurred in villages under AA control, where one male from each household was typically requisitioned for labour for anywhere from a day up to several months.

• The victims were not paid for their work. The customary laws of war require fair compensation when civilians are used by armed groups; the AA’s practices thus may constitute violations of international law and possibly war crimes.

• Some detainees were held in makeshift detention centres, in bamboo enclosures, or built by other forced labourers; they were abused, beaten, tortured, and made to work under harsh conditions, often with little food, rest or medical care.

• In addition to forced labour, the AA is also accused of forcible recruitment of minorities: young men were conscripted, given training, and forced into service (portering, front-line support, carrying rations, digging trenches) under threat of punishment.

Context & Significance

• The report was based on interviews with 21 survivors and witnesses between November 2024 and October 2025.

• Rakhine State is ethnically diverse — majority Rakhine Buddhists, and minorities including Rohingya, Hindu, Chakma, Kaman, Mro, Thet etc. The AA’s forced labour practices disproportionately target minorities.

• The AA gained significant territorial control in 2024, which the report suggests enabled institutionalised forced labour systems in villages under its control.

• Under international humanitarian law, civilians coerced into labour or combat support by an armed group are protected persons, not voluntary participants — meaning forced labour and forced recruitment are illegal. The report warns the AA’s actions “may constitute war crimes under international law.”

Implications

• The forced labour system undermines the rights of ethnic minorities and contributes to broader patterns of abuse and discrimination in Rakhine.

• The lack of payment, harsh conditions, threats of violence, and detention highlight egregious violations of human rights and humanitarian law.

• The international community and stakeholders in Myanmar’s peace process should consider accountability measures and protections for victims of forced labour.

• These abuses hamper efforts at inclusive governance and peaceful coexistence in Rakhine State by deepening grievances among ethnic minorities.

  Fortify Rights