Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
The Arakan Army (AA) has been systematically seizing properties owned by Rohingya businessmen in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships in Arakan state, western Myanmar, citing alleged connections to Myanmar army and Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).
Sources told Arakan News Agency (ANA) that AA on June 20 seized a dozen Rohingya-owned houses, lands and shops in Maungdaw, claiming alleged ties to the Myanmar military, without providing concrete evidence.
Also, in Buthidaung, Arakan Army took over everything owned by Rohingya businesspeople in the town since controlling it, claiming connections to ARSA, while locals assert that none of the owners had ties to ARSA and were even victimized by it in the past.
A former Rohingya goods trader in Buthidaung noted that not even 10% of the businesses previously owned by Rohingya in Maungdaw District before the AA took control are still operating under AA rule. Observers say that the AA’s method of seizing homes and properties using red signs, sealed notices, and accusations of ties to terrorist groups mirrors the tactics of the Myanmar military regime.
Local told ANA that while accusing Rohingya business owners of collaborating with the junta and using this as justification to seize their assets, the AA has not targeted Rakhine individuals with well-known ties to the military
“The allegation of being tied to ARSA is just a convenient excuse. The real goal is to target influential members of the Rohingya community, especially the financially powerful. If those individuals are removed or neutralized, the entire Rohingya population becomes powerless. Looking at the properties seized in Buthidaung and Maungdaw, it’s clear the AA aims to completely marginalize Rohingya business leaders,” said Maung Nyo Saw, Arakan affairs analyst and writer.
Reports refer to policy adopted by AA called Rakhita that doesn’t allow Muslim businessmen to grow strong in northern Arakan. A Rohingya rights activist told ANA that this selective targeting suggests the AA’s broader policy goal is to suppress the Rohingya population’s economic strength and render them powerless, a deliberate effort aligned with the so-called Rakhita Strategy.
These practices date back to 2024, when the Arakan Army attempted to seize control of Rohingya towns. The army targeted Rohingya in Maungdaw, forcing them to flee to neighboring villages until it took full control of the city in December. In 2025, it began confiscating the homes and property of Rohingya businessmen, confiscating more than 208 homes on the grounds that their owners were collaborating with the Myanmar military. The contents of hundreds of homes were also stolen.
The Arakan Army announced this month that it was preparing to evacuate six Rohingya villages in Maungdaw due to possible activity by ARSA, without any actual evidence of these activities. AA had also started in February marking homes of wealthy Rohingya who had fled the city in preparation for their confiscation and seizure.
The Arakan Army has controlled most of Rakhine State since launching a military campaign to seize it in November 2023. The Rohingya have suffered under the Arakan Army’s rule, with large numbers of them forced to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, joining hundreds of thousands of others who fled the country after being subjected to a genocidal campaign by the Myanmar military in 2017.
