Escaping inferno: Rohingya flee as violence escalates in Rakhine

BIG NEWS NETWORK
Khalid Umar Malik
16th June 2024, 

RAKHINE, Myanmar - Fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) has risen in the western province of Rakhine in recent days, putting thousands of predominantly Muslim Rohingya residents at risk.

According to discussions with Rohingya activists who spoke with witnesses in Buthidaung, there have been large fires throughout the town in recent days.

Myanmar Mechanism calls on Myanmar military to respond to its requests for information

Myanmar Mechanism calls on Myanmar military to respond to its requests for information

Statement by Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar

Geneva, 27 May 2024 – The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar has made numerous requests to the Myanmar military for information related to the many serious crimes that we are investigating. These include crimes allegedly committed by the Myanmar security forces and by armed groups. To date, the military has not responded to any of these requests. Today the Mechanism has sent a new request and is issuing this statement in the hope that it will lead to a response.

‘Nowhere to go’: Rohingya face arson attacks in Myanmar’s Rakhine State

Aljazeera
By Caleb Quinley
Published On 21 May 2024

Rohingya, targeted by the Myanmar military in 2017, are caught in the middle as the Arakan Army and military battle in the western state.

Smoke billows from a group of houses set on fire over the weekend [Courtesy of Planet Labs PBC]

 

Fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) has escalated in the western state of Rakhine in recent days, putting thousands of mostly Muslim Rohingya who live in the area at increased risk.

Myanmar Junta Using Rohingya Recruits to Sow Ethnic Hatred: Activists

The Irrawaddy
Brian Wei
April 19, 2024

                                The burned Doctors Without Borders office. 

Myanmar’s junta is accused of burning down Buthidaung town in Rakhine State using forced Rohingya recruits in an apparent attempt to boost ethnic hatred.

Shrinking aid for Rohingyas is a serious concern

daily observer
S A Korobi
Published : Monday, 1 April, 2024 

Since 2017, the United Nations has been seeking humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya under the name of Joint Response Plan (JRP).The Rohingyas, who had taken refuge in Bangladesh to save their lives from a genocidal attempt by the Myanmar military, are still living in congested camps and restricted livelihoodswith no hope of change any soon. To add salt to the wound, the funding for them, the worlds most persecuted community, has been declining as every year passes.

Myanmar Junta ‘Orchestrating Rohingya Protests’ Against Arakan Army in Rakhine

The Irrawaddy
by Hein Htoo Zan
March 22, 2024

Rohingya stage a protest against the Arakan Army in Buthidaung, Rakhine State on Tuesday. / Han Nyein Oo

 

Myanmar’s military regime is orchestrating Rohingya protests against the Arakan Army to sow ethnic division in Rakhine State, according to a Rohingya activist, an ethnic Rakhine politician, and community leaders.

Video Shows Rohingya Forcibly Recruited Into Myanmar Military

VOA
Ingyin Naing

March 14, 2024

 Dozens of young Rohingya men ride a military truck on March 9, 2024. (UGC courtesy video) 

washington — 

VOA has recently obtained video footage depicting Rohingya from Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps being trained as soldiers in Rakhine state, the scene of heavy fighting between Myanmar’s military junta and ethnic armed groups.

The Rohingya in the shadow of the Arakan army

Dhaka Tribune
Shafiur Rahman
Publish : 02 Mar 2024, 

“Instead of getting killed at the frontline by taking up arms for the junta, we would rather fight them and join the Arakan Army (AA).”

Rohingyas being forcibly recruited by Myanmar military: report

The Daily Star
Agencies
Mon Feb 26, 2024 

Rohingyas offered citizenship cards, $41 monthly salary if they join the military

 

Photo: Collected

Myanmar's military is forcibly recruiting Rohingya men from villages and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Rakhine State and it is feared that they will be used as human shields, said a report.

Bangladesh refuses proposal to accept new Rohingyas

prothomalo
Raheed Ejaz, Dhaka
Updated: 18 Feb 2024

A boat enters Shahpari Island Jetty Ghat in Teknaf yesterday. Locals said, there were five Rohingyas, one of them was shotCollected

300 Myanmar junta troops who fled attack return from Bangladesh

RFA
By RFA Burmese
2024.02.16

The troops had been stationed at a border post that the rebel Arakan Army captured earlier this month.

Myanmar citizens and Border Guard Police who crossed the Bangladesh-Myanmar border to seek shelter in Bangladesh are escorted back into Myanmar after arriving by ship at Cox’s Bazar on Feb. 15, 2024. (AFP

Some 300 members of a junta military unit and a border police force who fled to Bangladesh during an attack by the rebel Arakan Army have been repatriated to Myanmar, according to several Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

China says it facilitated Myanmar military's talks with rebel groups

Financial Express
Reuters
Dec 14, 2023 

China facilitated Myanmar's ruling military's peace talks with rebel groups, and the parties reached an agreement on a temporary ceasefire and the maintenance of dialogue, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Myanmar: The last days of the junta?

theinterpreter
Rahman Yaacob
Published 4 Dec 2023 

The latest phase of military conflict in Myanmar pitting rebel forces against the Myanmar military, better known as the Tatmadaw, may herald a new political and security landscape in the war-torn Southeast Asian country.

Since October, three ethnic armed organisations under the banner of the Three Brotherhood Alliance have launched a coordinated offensive against the ruling military junta. Codenamed Operation 1027, the campaign has included the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Arakan Army, targeting Tatmadaw’s controlled areas and military outposts.

Myanmar Junta Continues to Suffer Defeats a Month Into Operation 1027

The Irrawaddy
November 27, 2023

Arakan Army forces take part in a military drill.

Monday marks one month since the Myanmar military regime was confronted with what has rapidly become the biggest challenge to its rule since the 2021 coup—a massive, coordinated resistance offensive dubbed Operation 1027 that has inflicted significant troop and territorial losses on the junta.

Myanmar Military ‘Kidnapping Civilians for Ransom in Rakhine’

The Irrawaddy
November 24, 2023

Taungup Police Station 

Eleven businessmen are being held for ransom in Taungup Township, Rakhine State after the military seized them on Nov. 14 over alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA), say family members of the men.

The businessmen were arrested by junta troops after the AA attacked border guard police outposts in Donepike and Cheinkalein villages in Rathedaung Township on Nov. 13.

Parents Pull Children From Schools in Yangon as Myanmar Junta Troops Move In

The Irrawaddy
November 24, 2023

Junta soldiers guard a school on June 1, 2023.

Parents have stopped sending their children to public schools in several townships of Yangon after the regime started stationing troops at schools again last week.

Junta troops have been stationed at three highs schools in Thingangyun Township, one in South Dagon Township, one in Hlaing Tharyar Township, another in South Okkalapa Township, and at a few schools in North Okkalapa Township, residents of the townships say.

Who’s Who in Myanmar’s NCA, Then and Now

The Irrawaddy
October 13, 2023

(Top row from left to right) Representatives of three NCA non-signatories and two NCA signatories that joined the junta-organized peace talks. (Bottom row left to right) Representatives of five NCA signatories that joined the talks.

Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing is planning to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in Naypyitaw on Sunday, even though some of the signatories have been fighting the Myanmar military since the 2021 coup, saying the accord is no longer valid.

AA monitors actions by military council and ARSA in Rakhine

Narinjara
Date: 30 August 2023 

The United League of Arakan /Arakan Army (ULA/AA) asserts that its members always monitor various actions by the military council while using the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) terror group in Buthidaung and Maungdaw areas of Rakhine State.

"As far as we are concerned, I would like to inform that we always keep a watchful eye on the situation of Buthidaung and Maungdaw areas and all kinds of activities by the junta forces and ARSA rebels," said U Khaing Thukha, the spokesman of ULA/AA.

When the Myanmar Regime is Defeated, the Future of the Rohingya Will Become Clear

The Irrawaddy
26 December 2022

Rohingya Muslim refugee children gather around a water pump at the Thankhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh on November 25, 2017. / AFP

U Nay San Lwin is the co-founder of the Germany-based Free Rohingya Coalition, but better known on social media as Ro Nay San Lwin. Known for his Rohingya activism, he has described the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) as criminals who kill their own kind. U Nay San Lwin talked recently to The Irrawaddy about the Spring Revolution against the military dictatorship and the conflict in Rakhine State.

UN expert exposes $1 billion “death trade” to Myanmar military

United Nation

17 May 2023

NEW YORK / GENEVA (17 May 2023) – The Myanmar military has imported at least $1 billion USD in arms and raw materials to manufacture weapons since the coup in February 2021, according to a new report today by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews.

UN Member States are enabling this trade either through outright complicity, lax enforcement of existing bans, and easily circumvented sanctions, according to the report.

“Despite overwhelming evidence of the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar, the generals continue to have access to advanced weapons systems, spare parts for fighter jets, raw materials and manufacturing equipment for domestic weapons production,” Andrews said. “Those providing these weapons are able to avoid sanctions by using front companies and creating new ones while counting on lax enforcement.