As Rohingya diaspora organisations recently pointed out,
“[The Arakan Army’s] violence is systematic and deliberate, with every pattern of
a campaign aimed at removing the Rohingya people from their land... The Arakan
Army has turned these atrocities into lucrative business, displacing Rohingya and
then extorting them through human trafficking, charging them to escape the very
persecution it inflicts - while leaving all their belongings for them.”207
In March, BROUK received reports that the Arakan Army had begun to restructure Buthidaung
township. A Rohingya man recounted, “There are no Rohingya villages in Buthidaung township like
before. The AA is constantly destroying, merging, and relocating villages.”208Although the AA has
allowed some Rohingya IDPs to return to their original places in downtown Buthidaung and rural
areas of the township, they have also profiteered from this by charging them to return.209 Rohingya
wards of Buthidaung town are reported to be very overcrowded.
In April and May, the AA ordered Rohingya IDPs in rural areas to relocate to other places, effectively
consolidating Rohingya villages.210 The AA is reported to have denied Rohingya IDPs the right to
return to 41 different Rohingya villages. In most of these locations, the AA is believed to have
occupied the sites and seized Rohingya agricultural land. To date, BROUK has confirmed that at least
three of these Rohingya villages are locations where killings or arson attacks are alleged to have been
perpetrated by the AA in 2024.211
In downtown Maungdaw, some Rohingya IDPs were allowed to return in April, but were also charged
by the AA. They returned to find that their homes had been looted of all their possessions. 212 Other
Rohingya IDPs were allowed to return to their villages in January but also had to pay the AA. They
described being transported by car and boat under armed guard, like prisoners. The AA filmed their
return, apparently for propaganda purposes.213 In other IDP locations in Maungdaw township,
Rohingya await permission from the AA to return to their original villages.
Acts of collective punishment by the AA
BROUK received multiple reports of acts of collective punishment by the AA against Rohingya
villages in Maungdaw township in the first week of April. The pretext for such acts was the alleged
presence of ARSA in the area, amid reports of the murder of two civilians in separate incidents.
Rohingya villagers have repeatedly told BROUK that they do not support ARSA. Many believe
ARSA to be a proxy of the military regime and express that ARSA causes only suffering to Rohingya
people. Regardless of whether or not ARSA is present in the area, there is no justification for acts of
collective punishment against entire Rohingya communities by the AA.
Over several days, 50 AA soldiers are reported to have surrounded two Rohingya villages, ordering
several thousand villagers out of their homes, including children and the elderly. The AA accused the
villagers of harbouring ARSA members and subjected them to cruel and inhuman treatment, forcing
them to stand outside under the hot sun for the whole day and denying them access to food and water.
The AA arrested and detained two Rohingya men, accusing them of being members of ARSA and
responsible for the murder of a 10-year-old Rohingya girl. Villagers report that the two men are
207 Joint statement, (29 May 2025) op. cit.
208 BROUK reference ICJ11-OAC-AA-BTD-FD2.
209 BROUK reference ICJ11-OAC-AA-BTD-FD3.
210 BROUK references ICJ11-OAC-AA-BUT-FD4, ICJ11-OAC-AA-BUT-FD7.
211 BROUK references ICJ11-OAC-AA-BUT-FD8-10.
212 BROUK reference ICJ11-OAC-AA-MDW-FD1.
213
BROUK reference ICJ11-OAC-AA-MDW-FD2.
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