Arakan News Agency
Several Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh who have recently fled Arakan state in Western Myanmar have asserted that they were pushed away from their homeland because of atrocities committed against them by Arakan Army (AA) separatist group.
Rahim Ullah, Rohingya refugee who fled Maungdaw, Arakan, to Bangladesh in May, stated that AA persecution is relentless that hundreds of Rohingya are currently hiding in mountains or near borders waiting to enter Bangladesh.
“Young men are abducted and never return. The Arakan Army kills without hesitation”, he added to Jago news 24.
He also stated that doing business in Maungdaw requires payments to AA, also goods from Yangon have stopped, causing a food crisis in the state.
Another Rohingya who recently arrived in Bangladesh called Karim Ullah described the dire situations saying that “Arakan Army members raid my home, beating me on false pretexts. Since Arakan Army took control, I’ve been unable to work and there’s no medical care”.
“The Arakan Army killed one of my children. I fled with the others to survive”, Hosne Ara, another refugee now in Bangladesh camps, shared.
President of Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Humanity ARSPH, Muhammad Zubair, told Bangladesh Post that Arakan Army is torturing Rohingya throughout Arakan, adding that the last week witnessed AA raging attacks against 20 villages under the pretext of sheltering ARSA soldiers.
Jago news 24 referred to fears in Bangladesh of greater influx of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar. Local officials stated that there may be difficulties to host extra numbers of Rohingya as there is no space to host more shelters in Cox’s Bazar.
Interim Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Muhammad Yunus, stated in April that at least 100 thousand Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar reached Bangladesh since AA launched an offensive to control Arakan in November 2023. While other official believes that at least 30 to 40 Rohingyas cross borders into Bangladesh daily.
Arakan Army has captured 14 of 17 townships in Arakan. The Rohingya have suffered from the conflict and were subjected to violence, displacement, and forced conscription. The Arakan Army has also imposed restrictions, taxes, and confiscation of property against them, forcing large numbers of them to flee.
Bangladesh hosts more than a million Rohingya refugees in the Cox’s Bazar camps, which the United Nations classifies as the largest refugee camp in the world. The refugees have been living there in dire humanitarian conditions since fleeing Myanmar in 2017 due to a “genocidal” campaign waged against them by the Myanmar military.
