War, Conscription, and Unemployment Threaten Future of Arakan Youth: Study

A comprehensive new report by the Center for Arakan Studies reveals that young people in Arakan State face a bleak and profoundly uncertain future, battered by protracted conflict, forced military recruitment, severe travel restrictions, soaring unemployment, and systemic educational collapse. Published on August 31 as Arakan Affairs Special Study No. 10 (2026), the report examines the compounding crises affecting youth from January 2024 through August 2026, building on the devastating impacts of renewed fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) that erupted in November 2023. The study details intensifying pressure from all sides. The military regime has aggressively conscripted youths—including Muslims in Sittwe and Kyaukphyu—while the AA implemented its National Defence Emergency Provision (NDEP) in March 2025, barring service-eligible residents from leaving Arakan. Citing data from Unlawful Conscription Watch (UCW), the report reveals that the junta forcibly recruited 3,993 individuals from Arakan between May 2025 and May 2026—the second-highest conscription among the 15 States, Regions, and Union Territory tracked nationwide. Concurrently, the study documents alarming incidents of youths being detained while attempting to flee AA-controlled territories, with over 80 arrested in Thandwe Township alone and subsequently funneled into military training. Socioeconomic conditions have simultaneously deteriorated. Citing a Youth-Led Organization (YLO) assessment, the findings indicate that 55 percent of young people in Arakan are unemployed, crippled by a scarcity of jobs, widening skills gaps, and a total lack of startup capital. Years of warfare have deeply fractured higher education, while stringent mobility restrictions and administrative barriers in obtaining identification documents effectively trap youth inside the state. Although alternative educational pathways have begun emerging in AA-administered zones through 2025 and 2026, systemic recovery remains out of reach. The Center for Arakan Studies warns that an entire generation is being systematically trapped between active warfare, economic destitution, educational deprivation, and family hardship—a catastrophe with generational repercussions. The report urges governing authorities and civil society organizations to urgently formulate robust policies addressing immediate safety and livelihood needs while establishing long-term sustainable frameworks for the region's youth.