Arakan News Agency | Exclusive
Local residents in western Myanmar’s Arakan State have warned that the region is witnessing a rapid depopulation under the control of the Arakan Army (AA), amid growing human rights violations and worsening living conditions for the Rohingya, who now live in constant fear and an uninhabitable environment.
Speaking to Arakan News Agency, residents said that conditions have become worse than during the rule of the Myanmar military junta, with daily life dominated by anxiety and ongoing threats of abduction, arrest, and persecution.
They noted that entire villages such as Da Phyu Chaung, Ywet Nyo Taung, and Tha Yet Kin Man Nu have been completely emptied, despite the cessation of active fighting in those areas. Displaced Rohingya are still prevented from returning to their homes and remain trapped in makeshift IDP camps, unable to access their properties and livelihoods.
A resident of Buthidaung said that most people are starving and some have been forced to beg due to the complete absence of jobs or opportunities. He added that residents are being forced to pay 50,000 Myanmar kyat monthly as fees for labor and village guard duties. “If we don’t pay, we are punished—even though many can’t afford a single meal a day,” he said.
He also explained that the number of households in his area dropped from about 100 to fewer than 50, and that similar depopulation is occurring in many other villages. “If no one stops the Arakan Army from what they’re doing to us, Arakan will soon be completely empty,” he warned.
According to reports, the waves of displacement are not driven by armed conflict but rather by the unbearable conditions of daily life, forcing families to abandon their homes and lands simply to survive.
The Arakan Army now controls about 90% of the state. Under its rule, the Rohingya face widespread abuses, including the closure of their homes based on false accusations, seizure of property, forced evictions, and harsh restrictions on movement. These restrictions are enforced through a network of checkpoints at the entrances and exits of each Rohingya village.
The Arakan Army launched a military campaign in November 2023 to seize control of the state from the Myanmar military and has since taken over 14 of the 17 townships. The Rohingya have been caught in the crossfire, subjected to violence, forced displacement, and persecution by both sides—after already suffering a campaign of genocide by the Myanmar military in 2017, which forced nearly one million to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
