Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
Two Rohingya children have died inside a detention center run by the Arakan Army in western Myanmar’s Arakan State due to diarrhea amid a severe lack of clean water, food, and essential medical care.
A correspondent for Arakan News Agency reported that the two children, both under the age of five, were being held with their families at the police station in Maungdaw town. These families have faced forced labor and prolonged detention since returning to Maungdaw, a town they had fled due to clashes between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army.
The two deceased children were among the 72 Rohingya detainees held in the police station building since April 26, including 42 women and a child. They died three days after being taken into custody, and the incident was only recently discovered. The detainees had been subjected to forced labor and denied visits from relatives or access to food, water, and medicine provided by them, with only one meal per day being given.
The 17 detained families are being forced to work daily since early July, carrying out tasks such as street garbage collection, drainage ditch cleaning, and bush clearing. They face charges of illegal border crossing, and could each be sentenced to up to six months in prison, according to Police Colonel U Maung Aye Sein, head of Maungdaw police station.
Observers said the treatment of detained Rohingya by the Arakan Army surpasses what they experienced under the Myanmar military, which is already notorious for crimes against humanity. They added that the ongoing actions of the Arakan Army against the Rohingya constitute criminal behavior.
Currently, 310 Rohingya families have returned to Maungdaw. An Arakan Army official stated that the situation is currently too chaotic to handle these returnees properly. While they have been registered, the official said returning Muslims would soon be prosecuted under immigration laws for crossing the border illegally.
Several returning Rohingya have been detained in their home villages in Maungdaw, while Rakhine, Hindu, and other ethnic residents have been allowed to return to their villages from which they had also fled during earlier fighting since the Arakan Army seized control of the town on December 8.
The Arakan Army launched a military campaign in November 2023 against the Myanmar military to seize control of Arakan State. It has since captured 14 out of 17 towns. The conflict has severely affected the Rohingya, who have faced violence, forced displacement, and persecution from both sides. This comes after they already endured a genocidal campaign by the Myanmar military in 2017, which forced nearly one million Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
