The United League of Arakan (ULA) has banned adults aged up to 45 from leaving Rakhine State while its armed wing, the Arakan Army (AA), is conscripting residents.
The ULA on Thursday issued four orders prohibiting men aged 18 to 45 and women aged 18 to 25 from leaving the state without a proper reason. Only people with dependents suffering from severe health conditions that cannot be treated by the Arakan health department are allowed to leave the state, it said.
The ULA banned transporting people out of the Rakhine State for profit and outlawed traders from transporting extra people.
The revolutionary group said the travel ban aims to protect people from being seized by Myanmar’s junta, stepping on regime landmines, being conscripted into Myanmar’s military and becoming a victim of trafficking or extortion gangs.
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The ULA enacted its National Defense Emergency Provision in March to allow the AA to conscript adults aged up to 45 for military service.
The ULA said conscription prioritized the safety, security and stability of the Arakan people and the travel bans would end when the state was at peace.
In March last year, the regime banned Rakhine residents from leaving Yangon, with travel companies told not to sell tickets to anyone with a Rakhine identification card. The move came as the AA was advancing across Rakhine State after launching operations in November 2023.
The AA has liberated 14 out of Rakhine State’s 17 townships and Paletwa Township in neighboring Chin State.
This year it expanded operations into neighboring Bago, Magwe and Ayeyarwady regions. It continues to fight to seize the Rakhine capital, Sittwe, and Kyaukphyu, where China is hoping to gain access to the Indian Ocean with a port, oil and gas pipelines and transport links to Yunnan Province as part of its wider Belt and Road Initiative.
