As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) investigates possible crimes against humanity and acts of genocide committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya in 2017-2018, their fate is now caught between the military and a pro-independence rebel group.
Rights groups have recently accused the Arakha Army (AA) of burning down up to 35 Rohingya villages in Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan). The pro-independence group has between 30,000 and 40,000 fighters and controls a large portion of the state. The AA has reportedly forced dozens of families from the Muslim minority to leave the area, allegations supported by satellite imagery. In particular, shelters for displaced Rohingya in Buthidaung village were reportedly destroyed in mid-May, including a hospital and schools.
The AA instead accuses the national army of starting the fires. They claim they simply wanted to warn people to leave the war zone. Its leaders frequently refer to the Rohingya as “friends” and “compatriots” and have officially stated that they want to “protect the rights of all communities in the region, regardless of their race, ethnicity or religion.” However, one of its commanders once called them “Bengali” on X, a derogatory term that implies that they are Muslim infiltrators in the 90% Buddhist country. He accused them of wanting to build a “separate Islamic security zone.” While all are at risk in the current fighting, travel is easier for Buddhists than for the Rohingya, who are still often denied citizenship and passports by the regime.
Many ethnic Rakhine residents of Rakhine state, including AA members, want to separate from Myanmar and its Burmese majority. While the AA is fighting against the military regime known for its attacks on minorities, they also seem to want the Rohingya Muslims to leave. They are thus caught between the military and the rebels, while facing a closed door in Bangladesh, where the majority of Rohingya refugees are located.
Compulsory conscription
Myanmar’s military regime has also reportedly revived an old law to force the conscription of Rohingya into the national army to fight against the AA, calling on them to serve in greater numbers than other ethnic groups. While young men are denied citizenship, they are forced to fight in the ranks of an army that has been waging violence against their community for decades. Some conscripts have said that Rohingya are often used as human shields, being sent into losing battles.
The government in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, for example, reportedly conducted a meager two-week military training for Rohingya, many of whom were immediately sent to the front lines. One man told Radio Free Asia that he had to sleep in the fields to avoid being forcibly recruited by the national army, which visits homes late at night to recruit.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a group that has a strong presence in Bangladeshi refugee camps, has even been accused of coordinating the conscription of Rohingya into the national army, even though they have historically fought against the same army. The AA is also accused of forcibly conscripting Rohingya, an accusation they deny.
According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Rohingya are “one of the most discriminated against populations in the world, if not the most discriminated against.” In 2020, UN investigators reportedly said they feared a “serious risk that genocidal acts will occur or recur.”
Historical review
The Rohingya have lived in Myanmar for hundreds of years, mainly in the impoverished state of Rakhine. Since 1982, the state has stripped citizenship from those who cannot prove that their family has lived in the country for a certain number of years. They have become the world’s largest stateless population.
While Myanmar has been unstable since its independence from the British in 1948 (then called Burma), the Rohingya minority has faced discrimination for decades. In August 2017, the civilian government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi carried out the largest wave of persecution against them, forcing an estimated 742,000 people to flee to Bangladesh. The prime minister reportedly called the Rohingya “terrorists.”
Since the February 2021 coup against its government, the junta has imprisoned Suu Kyi but continues to violate the rights of minorities and the general population. Since October 2023, clashes between the military and opposition factions such as the AA have intensified the crisis, which has left an estimated 2.8 million people displaced within the country. According to the United Nations, as of January 26, 2024, an estimated 26,000 people have been arrested on political grounds.
About 1.1 million Rohingya currently live in 33 different camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee settlement, and 600,000 remain in Myanmar. Some have begun taking boats to try to settle elsewhere, such as Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, three countries that have not signed the 1951 Refugee Convention. The United States, Japan and Norway have recently pledged millions to help Bangladesh manage the overcrowded Cox’s Bazar. In addition to denying them entry, Dhaka is also barring the Rohingya from working and moving freely within the country.
This text is part of a series on oppressed peoples around the world.