The Arakan Army has imposed severe restrictions and committed grave rights abuses against the ethnic Rohingya population in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, said Human Rights Watch in a new report yesterday.
The territorial gains in the state have been accompanied by movement restrictions, pillage, arbitrary detention, mistreatment and unlawful forced labour and recruitment, among other abuses against the Rohingya.
Myanmar’s military has long subjected the Rohingya to atrocity crimes, including the ongoing crime against humanity of apartheid.
And now the Arakan Army, which controls some 90 percent of Rakhine State, is carrying out policies of oppression against the Rohingya similar to those long imposed by the Myanmar military, said the New York-based rights watchdog.
“The Arakan Army should end its discriminatory and abusive practices and comply with international law,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The Arakan Army pledged inclusive, equitable governance in areas it captured from Myanmar’s abusive military junta after fighting resumed in November 2023.
But Rohingya describe life under the Arakan Army as harsh and restrictive, with discriminatory regulations and practices, according to the report.
From April to July, HRW interviewed 12 Rohingya refugees who had fled to Bangladesh from Buthidaung township in northern Rakhine State for the report.
Life under the Arakan Army’s control was incredibly restrictive, a 62-year-old Rohingya refugee who arrived in Bangladesh in June told HRW.
“We were not allowed to work, fish, farm or even move without permission. We faced extreme food shortages, with most people begging from one another.”
Rohingya in Rakhine State have been caught between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, with both forces committing grave abuses, including extrajudicial killings, widespread arson and unlawful recruitment.
Since late 2023, more than 400,000 people have been internally displaced in Rakhine and Chin States, while as many as 200,000 have fled to Bangladesh, according to the report.
A Rohingya man, also 62, said he was displaced with his wife and two children five times over the past year.
“Life during this time has been incredibly difficult. Travel between villages was restricted, requiring permits that were rarely given.”
The Arakan Army also imposed a curfew.
“If they found anyone outside their homes, they would arrest them. And their whereabouts would become unknown,” he added.
The Arakan Army restrictions on livelihoods and agriculture, compounded by extortion and exorbitant prices, have exacerbated the severe food shortages and the junta’s blockade on aid, which has been in place since late 2023.
Some Rohingya said they survived by begging from families who received money from relatives abroad, while the others worked as day laborers for little to no pay.
The Arakan Army had confiscated farmland, houses, cattle, fishing hauls, firewood and even cemeteries.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and other Rohingya armed groups — after fighting alongside the Myanmar military in 2024 — are again deploying fighters in clashes against the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine State.
The fighting as well as the Arakan Army’s forcible recruitment of Rohingya villagers have inflamed communal tensions between the largely Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine.
“Donors and influential governments need to do much more to protect the Rohingya people, including their right to safety and freedom, whether in Myanmar or Bangladesh,” Pearson said.
They should also press the Arakan Army to respect the rights of all communities in Rakhine State, she added.
