Arakan News Agency
Local residents in Arakan State reported that Arakan militias (Buddhist separatist), known as the Arakan Army (AA), have begun demolishing a former Rohingya village in Buthidaung Township using heavy machinery, destroying homes, farmland, and fruit trees that once sustained generations of Rohingya families.
Residents said that Tappyar Village, a historically Rohingya settlement, is being completely flattened, with bulldozers tearing down houses, clearing cultivated land, and uprooting long-standing fruit trees, including mango, coconut, jackfruit, and tamarind. According to locals, the seized trees and timber are later distributed to Rakhine and Hindu communities.
A Rohingya man who previously lived in the village told “Rohingya Khobor” that what is happening appears to be an attempt to erase their existence entirely, stressing that everything carrying memory or meaning for the community is being removed without any regard for those who lived there for decades.
Local residents added that the destruction has not been limited to the village itself, but has expanded into surrounding areas of Tappyar Village, raising fears of permanent changes to the landscape. They warned that the scale of the devastation may leave even former residents unable to recognize their land in the future.
A woman from a nearby area said Rohingya people are no longer allowed to collect firewood or approach the hills and forested areas they once depended on, confirming that access to land and natural resources has been completely cut off.
Former residents also reported that officials affiliated with the Arakan militias have demanded large sums of money from Rohingya families in exchange for permission to return to their land. Those unable to pay, they said, are being threatened with relocation to long rows of camp-like shelters in other areas.
An elderly former villager said most families have no way to meet such financial demands, emphasizing that they are not asking for compensation or privileges, but only for their basic right to return home. Instead, he said, they continue to be pushed farther away from their ancestral land.
Rohingya residents noted that the destruction follows forced displacement carried out by the Arakan militias in 2024, when Rohingya families were driven out of both Tappyar Village and the nearby Kan Pyin Village. Nearly two years later, none of the displaced families have been allowed to return.
As the clearing continues, residents said the disappearance of villages, forests, and farmland has deepened fears of a systematic effort to remove Rohingya presence from the area. While the land grows emptier, displaced families say they carry their memories from place to place, holding onto the hope that they may one day see their villages again.
It is worth noting that Arakan militias (Buddhist separatist) now control nearly 90 percent of Arakan State. Under their rule, Rohingya communities have faced widespread abuses, including the sealing and seizure of homes, confiscation of valuable property, forced displacement of families, and strict movement restrictions enforced through an extensive network of security checkpoints surrounding Rohingya villages.
