“I May Be Killed Any Moment”
I. Killings, Abductions,
Torture, and Threats
by Rohingya Militant
Groups in Bangladesh’s
Refugee Camps
Rohingya armed groups in Bangladesh have killed, abducted, tortured, and
threatened Rohingya human rights defenders, majhis, religious leaders,
women, and other Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in refugee camps
in southern Bangladesh. These abuses have occurred with near complete
impunity as the Bangladeshi security officials in charge of camp security have
turned a blind eye to abuses by Rohingya militant groups and have, at times,
worked alongside them.54
Tom Andrews, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar, wrote in his March 2024 report to the U.N. Human Rights Council:
Violence is spiraling out of control in the refugee camps as Rohingya are
caught in the middle of clashes between the Arakan Rohingya Salvation
Army and Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, two Rohingya militant
groups. Militant groups have victimized the civilian population, including
by torturing and killing Rohingya religious and community leaders.55
Killings
Killings of Rohingya refugees by Rohingya militant groups in the refugee
camps in Bangladesh have doubled year-on-year since 2021 with 22 killings
reported in 2021, 42 in 2022, and at least 90 in 2023.56 The more than 90 people
killed in 2023 included dozens of reported members of the Rohingya Solidarity
Organisation (RSO) and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), killed during
54
A 2023 humanitarian joint report found that 48 percent of Rohingya refugee households
surveyed reported crime and violence as among their protection concerns and 25 percent
reported concern about people joining criminal groups. Inter-Sector Coordination Group,
“Joint Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment (J-MSNA): Camp-level Findings,” December 2023, p.
4, https://rohingyaresponse.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BGD_CXB_J-MSNA-2023_
Factsheets_Camps_Feb-2024.pdf.
55
Human Rights Council, Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar: Report of the Special Rapporteur
on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Thomas H. Andrews, A/HRC/55/65, March 20, 2024,
para. 86.
56
Fortify Rights interviews and open-source media monitoring between 2021 and 2023. See
also, “2 More Rohingya Killed by Groups in Bangladesh Camps,” Radio Free Asia, October 27,
2022,
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/rohingya-shooting-10272022154912.
html; “Competing Armed Groups Pose New Threat to Rohingya in Bangladesh,” The
International Institute for Strategic Studies, December 11, 2023, https://myanmar.iiss.org/
analysis/rohingya.