International

Young men trapped between war and conscription in Myanmar’s Rakhine

Published

2 years ago

June 21, 2024

The renewed fighting is the latest crisis to hit Rakhine which endured waves of communal violence in the years before the coup [AFP]

Young men trapped between war and conscription in Myanmar’s Rakhine

Since war resumed in his native Rakhine State last November, Thura Maung has seen his options narrow.

The 18-year-old, from the state’s ethnic Rakhine majority, first fled his home in the coastal town of Myebon in December, when clashes between the military and autonomy-seeking Arakha Army – formerly known as the Arakan Army – seemed imminent.

He and his family escaped by boat, travelling along river inlets at night to avoid being seen by the military. They returned a few days later, but fled twice more over the following months as the fighting escalated.

By February, the military and AA were battling for control over Myebon, and Thura Maung could hear shelling from the village where he had taken shelter. The military had also blocked the movement of goods and shut down the internet in areas affected by the conflict, leaving his family struggling to make ends meet.

With his university effectively closed due to the fighting, he felt his dreams slipping away. “There were no opportunities for my life to develop, and I saw no future,” he said.

It’s a feeling shared by Zubair, an ethnic Rohingya from Rakhine State’s northern Maungdaw township. The 24-year-old was doing an internship with a civil society organisation focused on peacebuilding when the fighting broke out and his office closed.

Soon, he was running from the war as well as a military conscription drive targeting Rohingya men. “We weren’t able to stay at home, go to work or even sleep on time,” he said. “Time that we could’ve spent working on our futures was wasted.”

Zubair and Thura Maung are part of a new generation of young people across Myanmar whose lives have been turned upside down by the 2021 military coup. In Rakhine State, people had already lived through years of communal conflict and a brutal 2017 military crackdown on the mostly Muslim Rohingya. The escalating violence between the military and AA has only made matters worse, according to Karen Simbulan, a human rights lawyer specialising in conflict sensitivity in Rakhine.

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“With the most recent renewed fighting and the looming threat of forced conscription, many who had persisted and stayed in Rakhine despite everything are seeing their futures taken away from them,” she said. “Many are taking significant risks to flee to safety, often putting themselves in highly vulnerable situations just to survive.”

Al Jazeera spoke with four young men from Rakhine State about the effects of the conflict on their lives. They have all been given pseudonyms to protect their safety.

‘Stirring up communal tensions’

The renewed fighting is the latest crisis to hit Rakhine State, home to Daingnet, Mro, Khami, Kaman, Maramagyi, Chin and Hindu minorities as well as the Rohingya, and the mostly Buddhist Rakhine majority. A category four cyclone hit the region last May, following successive waves of violence in the decade leading up to the coup.

In 2012, mobs of ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya people attacked each other with sticks and knives and burned each other’s homes, leaving dozens dead and some 140,000 forced from their homes. Afterwards, the military imposed tough restrictions on Rohingyas’ movement and access to services, while continuing to deny them citizenship under a discriminatory 1982 law.

The situation deteriorated dramatically in 2016 and 2017 when the military killed thousands of Rohingya civilians and committed widespread sexual violence and arson following attacks on military outposts by a Rohingya armed group. Its “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine State drove more than 750,000 people into neighbouring Bangladesh, and the crackdown is the subject of continuing genocide proceedings at the International Court of Justice.

The AA stepped up its fight for autonomy in late 2018; over the next two years, Rakhine State endured some of the most intense armed clashes seen in Myanmar in decades. The military also indiscriminately bombed and shelled civilian areas, committing what Amnesty International identified as war crimes.

The military and AA reached an informal ceasefire in November 2020, just three months before the generals seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Weeks later, the military cracked down on peaceful protests across Myanmar with gunfire and arrests. An armed uprising soon followed; by mid-2021, all-out war had erupted across the country.

Existing ethnic armed organisations trained and fought alongside anti-coup People’s Defence Forces (PDF), but the AA mostly stayed out of the fray, instead focusing on establishing governance mechanisms in its territory through its administrative wing, the United League of Arakan.

That changed last October, when the AA joined ethnic armed groups fighting on Myanmar’s eastern border with China to launch Operation 1027 declaring their intent to eradicate “oppressive military dictatorship”. Within weeks, they had seized strategic territory and other resistance groups were launching new offensives across the country. On November 13, the AA brought the war to Rakhine soil with coordinated attacks on military positions.

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The AA and its allies have since driven out the military from most of central and northern Rakhine State as well as Paletwa township in neighbouring Chin State. Following tactics it has long used to punish communities harbouring armed resistance, the military has retaliated with full-scale attacks on AA-controlled and contested areas by air, land and water while cutting off transit routes, communication channels and access to medical care for entire populations.

Hundreds of civilians have been injured or lost their lives and more than 185,000 people displaced across Rakhine State and Paletwa since November out of more than three million that the United Nations says have been displaced across the country, mostly as a result of the coup.

Through its forced conscription of Rohingya men as well as by demanding they protest against the AA, the military is also deliberately working to threaten years of fragile progress towards reconciliation between Rakhine and Rohingya communities, according to Simbulan, the conflict sensitivity specialist.

“The military is once again resorting to stirring up communal tensions because it is desperately losing ground in Rakhine,” she said. “As the expected de facto authority in Rakhine, the AA needs to heed its own words that this is a military tactic to divide communities, and not fall into the trap the military has set.”

Fear of conscription

Zubair, in Maungdaw, said that the conflict and military conscription drive left him feeling like the military was attempting to “destroy our Rohingya youth … from every angle”.

Since November, he has repeatedly been forced to flee his home due to the conflict. “Our village was attacked a lot, so we moved to another village which was less attacked,” he said. By February, he was also running from military conscription. Human Rights Watch reported in April that the military had used methods including false offers of citizenship, nighttime raids and abduction at gunpoint to conscript at least 1,000 Rohingya men, some of whom it sent to fight on the front lines against the AA.

In Maungdaw, Zubair said he had been unable to sleep since military soldiers took his neighbours from their home one night in March because he was fearful he might be next. The military was also blocking the roads between villages, leaving him and other young people with few places to go. “We ran inside the village,” said Zubair. “When we heard that [soldiers] were coming from one direction, we ran in another.”

Then, the military ordered the Maungdaw hospital to close, leaving Zubair’s father, who needs to use an inhaler because of a respiratory disease, unable to access medical care.

By April, heavy fighting between the military and AA had reached Rakhine State’s northern townships, alongside a series of devastating arson attacks across neighbouring Buthidaung township whose perpetrator remains disputed.

With a fight for control over Maungdaw looming, Zubair and his parents sneaked across the Naf river into Bangladesh one night at the end of May.

Now staying in the world’s largest refugee camp, Zubair rarely leaves his shelter, fearing that he could be robbed by other camp residents or arrested by Bangladeshi police, who sent back more than 300 people between February and April, according to the research and advocacy group Fortify Rights.

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“I need to be cautious every time I go outside,” he told Al Jazeera.

After escaping to nearby villages, Thura Maung, the Rakhine youth, also left the state due to the conflict. On February 9, he travelled by boat for two days to the state capital of Sittwe, and then boarded a plane bound for Myanmar’s largest city of Yangon.

He landed to find a city in chaos. While he was in transit, the military had announced plans to activate conscription from April, prompting a mass exodus from areas under its control. Thura Maung, who had planned to enrol in language classes in Yangon, could not find a course accepting new students and also feared conscription himself. So a week later, he began the trip back to Myebon, which had just been captured by the AA.

As soon as his flight touched down in Sittwe, however, he was arrested at the airport along with the other passengers on his flight. Held without charge at a Buddhist religious centre, military soldiers took his mugshot, interrogated him and searched through his phone.

He is among hundreds of people who have been detained by the military while travelling to or within Rakhine State since February. In March, the military also ordered travel agents and bus operators to stop issuing tickets to Rakhine State natives.

While these actions may have been intended to stop the flow of information and recruits to the AA, for Thura Maung, they had the opposite effect. Nearly a week after he was arrested, he sneaked away and headed towards an AA camp. “I felt lost,” he said. “I attempted to enter the AA without letting my parents know, because I thought it was the only certain thing I could do.”

A relative talked him out of it, however; now back in Myebon, where he is safe from military conscription because the AA controls the town, he still fears he could become the next victim of the military’s attacks. “I feel safer living in Myebon, but I still have to worry about air strikes,” he said.

‘Survival is my priority’

Tun Tun Win, a 24-year-old ethnic Rakhine, was also arrested at Sittwe airport. He had been attending language classes in Yangon when fighting broke out between the military and AA; although he had initially stayed in the city, he changed his plans in February. “Although there is ongoing conflict in Rakhine, I felt more secure living with my family than living alone in Yangon under the conscription law,” he said.

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Fleeing one danger, however, he was soon caught up in another. Like Thura Maung, soldiers took him away at the airport and interrogated him for several days at a Buddhist religious centre before he managed to sneak away. Now back home in Myebon, he faces a new set of struggles. “Currently, survival has become my priority rather than pursuing my ambition and plans,” he said.

Arkar Htet, a 27-year-old ethnic Rakhine from a village on the outskirts of Sittwe, also saw his plans fall apart after the conflict broke out. He was running an online delivery service and working as a dance instructor but stopped both after the military imposed a nighttime curfew and stepped up its surveillance and arrests. “I feared going outside even in the afternoon,” he said.

But even at home, he did not feel safe. As the military and AA battled for control over the town of Pauktaw, 30 kilometres (19 miles) northeast, military shells whizzed over his roof, as well as jet fighters on their way to bomb the town.

By January, the AA controlled Pauktaw, but the military had burned most of it down. As the fighting shifted to areas around Sittwe, Arkar Htet and his family fled by boat on February 29. Stray fire injured a passenger on the way; back in the city, about a dozen people died when shelling hit a portside market.

Arkar Htet and his family managed to reach a village under the AA’s control in Ponnagyun township, and in early April, he told Al Jazeera that he felt “70 percent safe”.

Less than two months later, on May 29 and 30, the military raided Byaing Phyu village, just a few kilometres from the village from which Arkar Htet had fled. According to the AA, military forces killed 72 civilians and raped three women; the military has denied the claims.

Then on June 1, the military bombed a village in Ponnagyun township next to the one where Arkar Htet had taken shelter, killing two civilians. Al Jazeera has been unable to get in touch with him since.

Young men trapped between war and conscription in Myanmar’s Rakhine

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

International

Trump Confirms Calling Netanyahu ‘Fucking Crazy’ in Explosive Phone Call

Published

16 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Trends Admin

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump

Trump Confirms Calling Netanyahu ‘Fucking Crazy’ in Explosive Phone Call

United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “fucking crazy” during a heated phone call on Monday, while insisting the two leaders continue to maintain a close working relationship. Speaking on the “Pod Force One” podcast with New York Post host Miranda Devine, Trump acknowledged his frustration over Israel’s escalating military campaign in Lebanon, which he said was complicating broader diplomatic efforts with Iran.

Trump told the podcast that he was “a little bit perturbed at his constantly fighting with Lebanon.” When asked directly whether he had used the explicit language against Netanyahu, Trump replied simply: “I did.” Despite confirming the heated exchange, Trump stressed that his personal rapport with Netanyahu remains intact. “We’ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,” he said, adding that he believed a resolution to broader regional tensions would come “fairly quickly.”

Trump’s confirmation followed an explosive report from Axios on Monday, which cited two U.S. officials and another source briefed on the conversation. According to the report, Trump launched into a profane tirade against Netanyahu over Israel’s threatened strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut. The Axios report quoted Trump as telling Netanyahu: “You’re fucking crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Another source briefed on the conversation said Trump was “furious” and at one point shouted: “What the fuck are you doing?” According to the report, Trump also referenced his support for Netanyahu during the Israeli leader’s ongoing corruption trial, claiming he had helped keep him out of prison.

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The reported outburst was linked to Netanyahu’s plans for major strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut. U.S. officials told Axios that Trump recognized Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks but believed Netanyahu’s response had become disproportionate. Trump was particularly concerned about civilian casualties in Lebanon and objected to Israeli operations that reportedly involved destroying entire buildings to target individual Hezbollah commanders. The timing of the call proved critical. Earlier on Monday, Iran had threatened to walk away from negotiations with the United States over Israel’s actions in Lebanon. Tehran has made clear that it will not agree to a deal to end the war unless a ceasefire also covers Lebanon, where Israel invaded in March to pursue the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia. One U.S. official described the exchange as among the “most difficult” conversations between the two leaders since Trump returned to office.

Despite the tense exchange, the phone call produced tangible results. Trump announced on Truth Social that Netanyahu had agreed to call off a “major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his Troops around. Thank you Bibi!” An Israeli official told Axios that Israel no longer plans to strike Hezbollah targets in Beirut. According to understandings reached between the two leaders, Israel would refrain from striking Beirut provided that Hezbollah does not attack Israeli territory. However, Israel’s expanded ground operation in southern Lebanon would continue. One U.S. official told Axios that Trump “steamrolled” Netanyahu on the call, and the prime minister responded by saying, “OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of.”

Adding complexity to the story, Israeli media and officials have disputed key aspects of the Axios report. An unnamed Netanyahu staffer denied that Trump cursed at or personally attacked the prime minister. While acknowledging the call was “tense,” the Israeli source claimed Trump did not say that Netanyahu would be in prison or that everyone “hates Israel.” A senior Israeli official briefed on the call later told The Times of Israel that the Israeli account disputing the more dramatic elements was “accurate.” However, Axios reporter Barak Ravid, who broke the story, stood by his reporting, telling Channel 12 that Trump twice used the f-word during the first of two calls between the leaders Monday night.

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In the same podcast interview, Trump dismissed suggestions that Netanyahu had manipulated him into starting the war with Iran, a claim made by some Democratic critics. “He tricked me? I’m the one that started it,” Trump told the New York Post. “I don’t want to bore anybody, but I started [the war with Iran] because we can’t let them have a nuclear weapon. Now, that pertains to Israel because they probably would have been the first one to get hit.” Trump went further, asserting his critical role in Israel’s survival. “I’ll tell you what, if it wasn’t for me there would be no Israel right now,” he said. The president dismissed his critics as “Dumbocrats” and rejected accusations that he was doing Israel’s bidding in the Iran war.

The strained exchange underscores the increasingly shaky ties between two right-wing allies who both face significant political pressures at home. Trump wants a way out of a war that has badly hit the U.S. economy less than six months before midterm elections, which will determine whether his Republican party keeps control of Congress. Netanyahu, meanwhile, faces the possible collapse of his right-wing coalition and is under fire for bowing to Trump on matters of security after calling off the plan to attack Beirut. This is not the first time Trump has expressed frustration with Netanyahu. In September 2025, Trump reportedly told top aides that Netanyahu was “fucking me” regarding ceasefire violations in Gaza. Former ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, now a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council, noted that tensions between Netanyahu and U.S. presidents are not unusual. “In fact, he has a perfect record of reaching that point of frustration with every U.S. president he’s worked with,” Shapiro told AFP.

Trump used the podcast interview to make several bold claims about ongoing negotiations with Iran. He said Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is directly involved in talks to end the war and that he would “like to meet him.” When asked about Khamenei’s condition—U.S. officials have previously claimed the Iranian leader was seriously injured in the same bombing that killed his father, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war—Trump said: “If you believe the stories, he’s, you know, missing a lot of different parts.” Trump also claimed that Iran has agreed it will not obtain a nuclear weapon, saying: “We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon and lots of other good things are going to happen.” According to Trump, a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz as early as this week, easing pressure on global energy markets. Despite expressing optimism, Trump acknowledged that negotiations have faced multiple setbacks, but maintained that “this will resolve itself fairly quickly.”

Despite the diplomatic maneuvering, fighting resumed in southern Lebanon as clashes broke out again between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on Monday night. Drone strikes killed eight people, including a father and his two children. Trump’s office has not provided additional comment beyond the president’s Truth Social posts and podcast interview. Netanyahu’s office has not publicly responded to either the Axios report or Trump’s subsequent confirmation of the remarks. The White House referred AFP to Trump’s Truth Social posts from Monday when asked to confirm the Axios account, where the president thanked Netanyahu for agreeing to pull troops back from Beirut.

Trump Confirms Calling Netanyahu ‘Fucking Crazy’ in Explosive Phone Call

International

Nnamdi Kanu: US Congress Calls for Diplomatic Engagement with Nigeria

Published

22 hours ago

June 3, 2026

Trends Admin

Nnamdi Kanu: US Congress Calls for Diplomatic Engagement with Nigeria

The United States Congress has stepped into the ongoing legal controversy surrounding Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), after the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for formal diplomatic engagement with the Nigerian government over his trial and detention.

The resolution, tagged H.Res. 1321, was adopted on May 22, 2026, following its introduction by Congressman John James. It urges the U.S. Department of State to open discussions with Nigerian authorities regarding concerns about Nnamdi Kanu’s detention, trial process, and access to fundamental human rights.

US lawmakers expressed concern about the handling of Kanu’s case, urging that all judicial proceedings in Nigeria comply with constitutional safeguards and internationally accepted standards of due process, fair hearing, and human rights protection. They also called for improved attention to Kanu’s detention conditions, including access to legal representation, medical care, and humane treatment in custody. Lawmakers further urged the U.S. Secretary of State to engage Nigerian officials in dialogue aimed at addressing concerns around judicial fairness and respect for civil liberties.

Kanu, who leads the proscribed IPOB movement, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on November 20, 2025, by the Federal High Court in Abuja. Justice James Omotosho delivered the judgment after finding him guilty on terrorism-related charges brought by the Federal Government. He is currently serving his sentence at a correctional facility in Sokoto State.

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However, Kanu and his legal team have consistently rejected the ruling, arguing that parts of the prosecution’s case relied on laws they claim were no longer valid. His lawyers have since filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal, though proceedings are yet to commence.

The US Congress also referenced findings by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which in 2022 concluded that Kanu’s detention violated international human rights standards and recommended corrective measures, including his release and compensation. Lawmakers said these findings highlight broader concerns about arbitrary detention, political freedoms, and the treatment of dissenting voices under international law.

While the United States government has historically maintained respect for Nigeria’s sovereignty and judicial independence, Congress members emphasized Washington’s global commitment to promoting human rights, rule of law, and fair judicial processes. The resolution encourages continued engagement between the U.S. State Department and Nigerian authorities to ensure compliance with international legal standards while maintaining diplomatic relations.

Analysts say the move could increase international scrutiny of Nigeria’s handling of sensitive political and security-related cases, though any formal diplomatic action will depend on the U.S. executive branch. For now, the resolution adds a new layer of global attention to one of Nigeria’s most high-profile and politically sensitive legal cases.

Nnamdi Kanu: US Congress Calls for Diplomatic Engagement with Nigeria

International

ICE Arrests African Migrant Who Claimed to Be Gay for Asylum, Then Married Sheriff’s Daughter

Published

2 days ago

June 2, 2026

Trends Admin

File photo

ICE Arrests African Migrant Who Claimed to Be Gay for Asylum, Then Married Sheriff’s Daughter

Washington D.C. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a Mauritanian national, Selah Dine Habib (also known as Habib Selah), after federal investigators discovered he allegedly submitted a fraudulent asylum claim based on homosexuality before marrying an American woman and working as a taxpayer-funded corrections officer in Portland, Indiana .

Habib, 28, a native of Mauritania in northwest Africa, was taken into custody on May 21, 2026, and remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings . According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) , Habib entered the United States illegally in March 2023 near Lukeville, Arizona, and was released into the country by the Biden administration . “He entered the country illegally in March 2023 near Lukeville, Arizona, and was released into the country by the Biden administration, where he was reportedly hired as a corrections officer in Indiana,” DHS stated .

Upon entering the United States, Habib filed an asylum application in which he claimed to be homosexual . In Mauritania, same-sex conduct is criminalized, and individuals perceived as LGBTQ face severe persecution, including the risk of capital punishment under the country’s interpretation of Islamic law . Federal law allows migrants to make LGBTQ-specific asylum claims if they can demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country based on sexual orientation or gender identity . However, DHS now alleges that Habib’s claim was fraudulent . “His pending asylum application is believed to be fraudulent, as he applied based on homosexuality in 2023 but married a woman in 2025,” officials said .

Investigators reportedly discovered that Habib married an American woman in September 2025 — approximately two years after filing his asylum claim based on homosexuality . According to local outlet WIBC, which first broke the story, the woman he married is Chelsea, the stepdaughter of Jay County Sheriff Larry Ray Newton . Wedding photos and videos from the ceremony were shared on social media, showing Sheriff Newton posing with his family and delivering a speech to wedding guests . These publicly available images ultimately drew the attention of federal authorities, who began scrutinizing Habib’s immigration status .

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Before his arrest, Habib was employed as an unarmed correctional officer at the Jay County Jail in Portland, Indiana . Sheriff Larry Ray Newton confirmed that Habib was hired by the department before he married the sheriff’s stepdaughter, meaning his employment was not a direct result of the marriage . During the hiring process, Habib presented a Social Security card and a driver’s license, and the Jay County Auditor’s Office confirmed that he passed the federal E-Verify employment-authorization check .

“I am able to confirm that Mr. Habib submitted an I-9 with documentation, and an E-Verify Check was completed at the time of employment. The report came back as employment authorized,” the Jay County Auditor’s Office told WIBC . The Auditor’s Office also noted that departments are responsible for completing background checks and other screenings before submitting new employees, and any discrepancies flagged by the E-Verify system would have halted the onboarding process immediately .

Habib is currently being held at the Clay County Jail detention facility in Brazil, Indiana, pending removal proceedings . According to WIBC, he is contesting a final deportation order from the United States . ICE issued a statement following the arrest, emphasizing its commitment to enforcing immigration laws: “To be clear: Work authorization does NOT give someone legal status to be in our country” . The agency added that Habib “will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings and will receive full due process under federal law” .

The Department of Homeland Security also commented on the broader implications of the case: “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, ICE is restoring law and order. Illegal aliens have NO PLACE in our communities, especially in positions of law enforcement” . The case comes amid heightened scrutiny of immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, which has prioritized the arrest and deportation of individuals who entered the country illegally or are accused of gaming the asylum system . The administration has also focused on ensuring that individuals with pending immigration cases do not hold positions within law enforcement .

While the case has drawn significant attention as an apparent example of asylum fraud, legal observers have noted that the situation may be more nuanced than it initially appears . Some legal experts have pointed out that marriage to a woman does not automatically prove that an asylum applicant lied about their sexual orientation, as individuals may identify as bisexual or may have married due to cultural, religious, or family pressure . The U.S. government would need to present additional evidence beyond the marriage itself to successfully prove immigration fraud in court . As of this report, DHS has not released further details about the specific contents of Habib’s asylum application or any additional evidence supporting the fraud allegation .

Mauritania, Habib’s country of origin, has been cited by human rights organizations as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for LGBTQ individuals. According to the Human Dignity Trust, the country imposes severe penalties for same-sex conduct, including the death penalty in certain cases . This context underscores the high stakes of legitimate LGBTQ asylum claims from the region while also highlighting why fraudulent claims are considered particularly damaging to the integrity of the asylum system .