Arakan News Agency
Residents and eyewitnesses said that properties and shops belonging to the Rohingya in the city of Buthidaung, in Arakan State, were transferred to Rakhine Buddhists after the Arakan Buddhist militias (Arakan Army) took control of the city, raising fears that this minority might lose their possessions permanently.
Witnesses explained that a number of local Buddhists seized the properties with the support of the Arakan militias, while the original owners were prevented from claiming them.
A relative of a displaced Rohingya family said: “When I told them that the shop belonged to my relatives, they said it is now ours, we gained it after our victory in the battle.”
The Arakan militias launched a wide-scale attack on Myanmar’s military forces, which ended with their control of Buthidaung on May 18 past year. According to residents’ accounts, the entire town was burned on the night of the takeover, causing thousands of Rohingya to flee towards Yangon, Malaysia, and Bangladesh.
While most Rohingya homes and shops were destroyed in the fires, a few buildings remained standing, though they were later taken over by Rakhine Buddhists with the cooperation of the Arakan militias.
Estimates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees suggest that more than 100,000 Rohingya were displaced to Bangladesh following the events of May, with families who lost their homes expressing fears that they may not be able to regain their properties.
Under the Arakan Army’s rule, the Rohingya suffer broad violations including the closure of their homes following malicious complaints, seizure of their homes, confiscation of their valuable properties, and displacement of many families. Strict restrictions prevent their movement between villages, through a network of security checkpoints at the entrances and exits of every Rohingya village.
The Arakan militias launched a military campaign in November 2023 against the Myanmar Army to take control of the state and succeeded in controlling 14 out of 17 cities. This conflict affected the Rohingya who faced violence, forced displacement, and persecution from both sides, after already experiencing a “genocide campaign” by the Myanmar Army in 2017, which forced nearly a million of them to flee to Bangladesh.
