“I May Be Killed Any Moment” 45 A Rohingya man and former village administrator in Rakhine State was threatened by ARSA in both Myanmar and Bangladesh.223 He told Fortify Rights about his experience in Bangladesh: [ARSA members] called me here [in Bangladesh] and said, “You still have links with the military there [in Rakhine State]. Be straight.” Of course, I don’t have links with the military. Now, they tell me, “You have been a village administrator, and you have linkages with the authorities.” They say, “We will cut you here.” I stay in my shelter now and don’t really go out.224 He continued: About a year ago [2022], [ARSA] would call me and tell me they would kill me. Around 15 members of ARSA came to my shelter to bring me to a meeting. I didn’t see guns in their hands, but they had sticks. They brought me to a mosque in a block nearby. It was a meeting with their leader. They told me not to be a military informant [for the Myanmar junta] or for authorities in Bangladesh.225 * * * Fortify Rights also documented threats against refugees by members of the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA), a separate armed militant group formally led by Nobi Hossain.226 The group allegedly threatened a Rohingya sub-block majhi for collaborating with the APBn to stop drug trafficking in his camp.227 The sub-block majhi said he has been living in hiding for more than 11 months because of threats from ARA, saying: [ARA] is targeting me. This group was not able to get a stronghold in my block. I have a close tie [sic] with the police, and if there is a murder in the block or drugs being smuggled, I can easily call the police. They are targeting me, because they can’t come to my block because I have been informing the authorities about them.228 * * * In another case documented by Fortify Rights, ARA threatened and tried to get a young Rohingya man to join their group in 2022. The Rohingya man in his twenties told Fortify Rights: “I could see ARA doing some criminal activities [in our camp]. I saw that [the commander of ARA] was working to arrest ARSA and beat some people. I don’t know if these people [who were beaten] are ARSA or not.”229 223 Fortify Rights also collected testimony on ARSA threats against Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2016 and 2017. For example, the Rohingya former village administrator who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 told Fortify Rights about threats from ARSA in his village in May and June 2017 before the major attacks in Rakhine State. He said: “Sometimes [ARSA] would come and meet me. Sometimes they would threaten me. They told me once over the phone, ‘We will slit your throat if you inform the military.’ They called me two or three times a day. It was in May and June 2017 before the major violence.” Fortify Rights interview with E.I., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, August 27, 2023. 224 Ibid. 225 Ibid. 226 According to ARA, the group was founded to protect the “homeland” and uphold “race and religious identity” as well as ensure “freedom from oppression and human rights abuses.” See, Arakan Rohingya Army, “Press Statement: Document Reference 1/2020” , on file with Fortify Rights, 2020 (unofficial translation). Nobi Hossain had led the group since Bangladesh authorities arrested the former leader, Nasrullah, in February 2020. In September 2024, police in Cox’s Bazar reportedly arrested Nobi Hossain, the current leadership of ARA is unclear. Before Nobi Hossain’s arrest, Bangladesh authorities announced that anyone with information leading to arrest of Nobi Hossain would receive an award of million Bangladeshi Taka [approximately US$8,370]. See, Fortify Rights communication with D.C., September 2023; “Rohingya Smuggler Nabi Hossain Arrested” , Dhaka Tribune, September 1, 2024, https://www. dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/356841/rohingya-smuggler-nabi-hossain-arrested; “Is Nabi Hossain Main Behind Violence at Rohingya Camp?“, Prothomalo, March 8, 2023, https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/crime-and-law/ xih7742scd. See also, ARA official X account: https://x.com/army_rohingya. 227 Ibid. 228 Fortify Rights interview with F.A., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, August 29, 2023. 229 Fortify Rights interview with I.Z., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, December 28, 2023.