Young Rohingya men are being forced to fight as foot soldiers on both sides of Myanmar’s brutal civil war

For 13-year-old Mohammed Rias, it was the day of exams, a day to put all that he had learned to the test.

But instead of settling down in a classroom, he found himself fleeing his home, dodging a hail of bullets to escape forced conscription into a war which has persecuted his community for years.

Mohammed is a Rohingya who, until recently, was living in the Buthidaung township in Rakhine State, western Myanmar. For years, his community has been targeted by the junta who overthrew and imprisoned the democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021.