Background 22 Before RSO, there were numerous other Rohingya armed resistance organizations, including the Rohingya Patriotic Front (RPF).27 According to a former RPF member with whom Fortify Rights spoke: “RPF was doing guerrilla warfare in the jungles of Burma [Myanmar] against the Burma Army [in the 1970s]. … We did attacks on their [Myanmar army] patrols. At that time, our morale was high. We had hopes of really succeeding against the Burmese.”28 When the RPF began to fragment and ultimately became inactive, then former RPF member Nurul Islam co-founded RSO with Dr. Mohammad Yunus, which has been intermittently active in Bangladesh since the 1980s, at times, with the government’s support and, at other times, evading suppression by the government.29 Later, RSO splintered into factions and faded from existence, until the attempted 2021 Myanmar coup d’état when RSO announced its rebirth under different leadership, reportedly with the support of Bangladeshi security agencies.30 In June 2021, RSO posted on its official Twitter account a photograph of “RSO freedom fighter[s] during [a] training session.”31 The leader of RSO at the time of writing is Mohammed Ayyub Khan, also known as Saiful.32 Since 2021, violent clashes between ARSA and RSO and other Rohingya-led militant groups in the camps have intensified, resulting in an increase in serious human rights abuses, which are compounded by a general lack of protection and access to justice for refugee victims and survivors of crimes.33 After years of fighting, in November 2024, some of the Rohingya armed groups met to talk about a ceasefire in the refugee camps.34 According to one of the lead negotiators of the meeting—a Rohingya from northern Rakhine State with reported ties to the military junta—the groups were in talks for two months before they reached commitment to end the fighting in the camps.35 He told Fortify Rights: I worked for two months to make the groups not fight each other. During the two months, I met a lot of Murobbis [seniors], and they assured me that they would stop the fighting. ... The main agreement ensures peace and people’s security in the camps. [The armed groups and religious leaders] promised to not fight inside the camp and also not to do any warning shots or have weapons in the camps.36 27 Other Rohingya resistance groups include the Rohingya Independence Force, Arakan Rohingya Islamic Front, and the merging of a number of different actors into the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO). ARNO still is operational today. Fortify Rights communication with Nurul Islam, 2025; Ek Khaale, “Resistance: Movements for Liberation, Preservation and the Restoration of Rights,” website, https://www.ekkhaale.org/chapter7; and AFK Jilani, The Rohingyas of Arakan: Their Quest for Justice, (Chittagong: Ahmed Jilani, 1999), p.129. 28 Fortify Rights interview with an RPF member, undisclosed location, Bangladesh, April 26, 2024. 29 Fortify Rights communication with Nurul Islam, 2025. For more information about Nurul Islam, see, Edith Mirante, Our Journey: Voices from Arakan (Cranford: Project Maje, 1991), pp. 19-22., May 1991, Project Maje, Cranford NJ, USA, pp. 19-22. According to a U.S. government cable from Yangon on March 28, 2003, Bangladesh’s Defence Attaché Brigadier Salim Akhtar said in a delegation visit to Yangon that the Bangladesh Army “[h]ad run sweeps through the area in June 2002, December 2002, and February 2003. The target was gun-running by the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), which he said was funneling arms from Thailand to criminal gangs in Bangladesh. Salim noted that the RSO had only 150 to 200 men under arms.” See, Wiki Leaks, “Bangladesh Prime Minster Looks Easward, Discovers Burma,” March 28, 2003, https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/03RANGOON394_a.html. 30 AFK Jilani, The Rohingyas of Arakan: Their Quest for Justice, p. 161; International Institute for Strategic Studies, “Competing Armed Groups Pose New Threat to Rohingya in Bangladesh,” December 11, 2023, https://myanmar.iiss. org/analysis/rohingya. 31 RSO official X account, June 10, 2021, https://x.com/rsomedia/status/1402929974554791936/photo/1. See also, a video of the training ground posted on RSO official Twitter account on June 30, 2021, https://x.com/rsomedia/ status/1410987289421877249/video/1. 32 Fortify Rights interview with F.E., location withheld, Bangladesh, 2023. 33 Speaking about the increasing violence in the camp, one Rohingya refugee told Fortify Rights: “I have heard 50 shots in one night. It could be around January 2023. … The amount of fear I had in my mind in Myanmar has increased since coming here [to Bangladesh]. I now have more fear here compared to in Myanmar. Here in Bangladesh, we can’t go out at night.” Fortify Rights interview with C.A., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, March 23, 2023. 34 On November 15, 2024, some members of the Rohingya religious community, Rohingya leaders, and armed group representatives gathered in Camp-1 at Al Jamiya Al Isalamiya Darul Ullum Belak Madrasa. A senior religious leader who attended the meeting told Fortify Rights: “The senior leaders gathered to talk about ending the fighting between armed groups. We have called on the armed groups to stop. I am not 100% sure if they will follow our recommendations. ... I cannot guarantee they will follow our request [to end the fighting in the camps].” A member of Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) also confirmed the meeting with Fortify Rights. See, Fortify Rights interview with A.A.F., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, November 19, 2024 and Fortify Rights communication with a member of the DGFI, Bangladesh, November 2024. 35 Fortify Rights interview with A.A.E. and A.A.F., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, November 18 and 19, 2024. 36 Fortify Rights interview with A.A.E., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, November 18, 2024.