Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
On 21 August, Buddhist Arakan militias (Arakan Army) summoned village leaders and influential figures from across Buthidaung Township in Arakan State, western Myanmar, to a new meeting attended by journalists and news agencies from Arakan. They were pressured to place the blame for the “Tan Shauk Kan” massacre, which occurred last year, on the Myanmar military.
Local sources told Arakan News Agency that residents were forced to make public accusations holding the Myanmar military responsible for the Tan Shauk Kan massacre, which took place on 2 May 2024, while denying any role by the Arakan militias.
One villager explained: “We were forced to record video clips saying that what happened was not carried out by the Arakan militias but by the Myanmar military.” Another villager added that old military boots and helmets were placed at the scene to make it appear that the incident was linked to the military and not the Rohingya.
A participant continued: “At the start, Arakan Army members told us: ‘We did not kill 600 villagers from Tan Shauk Kan; the Myanmar military is the real perpetrator. Everyone killed in this conflict was killed by the Myanmar military. According to our research, all villagers from Tan Shauk Kan are alive, and only one family is missing.’”
He further explained that meeting leaders later forced them to give identical statements to Arakan journalists, saying: “We had to repeat what the Arakan militias wanted us to say. They told us, ‘Speak as you know,’ but in reality, if we spoke against the Arakan militias, we would end up in one of their detention centers.”
This meeting comes after earlier reports and testimonies indicated that Arakan militias have been exerting pressure on residents to shift responsibility away from themselves and place it entirely on the Myanmar military, in an attempt to control the media narrative around the Tan Shauk Kan massacre.
Previously, Rohingya activists and human rights organizations circulated horrific images documenting a mass killing carried out by Arakan militias against more than 600 Rohingya in Tan Shauk Kan village, Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, on 2 May 2024, according to the Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC).
The militias also forced residents of “Thin Taung” village, near Tan Shauk Kan, to make false accusations blaming the Myanmar military for the massacre, before the Buddhist Arakan militias’ spokesperson, “U Khaing Thukha,” denied that the bodies belonged to Rohingya, instead claiming they were Myanmar military soldiers killed by the militia forces during last year’s clashes.
Under Arakan Army control, Rohingya face widespread abuses, including the closure of homes following false complaints, seizure of property, displacement of many families, and severe restrictions on their movement between villages, enforced through a network of security checkpoints at the entrances and exits of every Rohingya village.
The Arakan Army launched a military campaign in November 2023 against the Myanmar military to seize control of the state, succeeding in taking 14 out of 17 townships. The conflict has engulfed Rohingya communities, who have suffered violence, forced displacement, and persecution at the hands of both sides—after already being subjected to a “genocide” campaign by the Myanmar military in 2017 that forced nearly one million to flee to Bangladesh.
