Rakhine State govt clarifies fake news about Bengali conscription

The news that the State Administration Council has been enrolling the Bengalis in Rakhine State to serve in military service is not absolutely true; it is just a fake story, according to the Rakhine State government.
Such a news item on the website of The Business Standard, a Bangladeshi media, accused the Myanmar Government of recruiting Bengalis from refugee camps by luring them with free travel.
Some Bangladeshi media have just quoted the false and unsubstantiated statements of RFA and some malicious Myanmar media outlets.
“There is no such a case. Bengalis are not even our citizens. The People’s Military Service Law is only at the stage of forming state and regional committees. It still needs to form many committees at different levels, such as district, township and ward/village. And it must also draft and stipulate the bylaw for it. So, the aforesaid news is not true. There is no such thing in Rakhine State,” an official of the Rakhine State government said.
The Bangladesh-based Dhaka Tribune also published another item of false news that there was an unverified report about the arrest and recruitment of thousands of Bengali refugees from the border region to fight in the ongoing war. As malicious media have been fabricating misinformation after the announcement of the enforcement of the People’s Military Service Law in order to cause anxiety and worry among the people and locals, that is another pattern of spreading fake news, said a Yangon-based media observer. — Myo Khine/ZN/ED