Arakan Agency | Exclusive
Arakan militias (Buddhist separatists) have ordered local authorities in Maungdaw and Buthidaung to gather detailed information on Rohingya residents who crossed into Bangladesh for medical treatment, as well as on houses left locked or vacant after families fled ongoing fighting.
Rohingya residents told “Arakan News Agency” that local administrators said they were acting on direct instructions from the militias. Officials repeatedly visited communities and continued questioning without clarifying the purpose of the data collection.
Residents were asked for the names of those who left, travel details, information on empty homes, and records of missing family members.
Many residents explained that they crossed into Bangladesh solely due to the lack of medical care in their areas, where clinics had been closed, damaged, or lacked doctors and medicines. Some carried official permission or medical documents, while others crossed urgently to save the lives of sick relatives.
The repeated visits and questioning have sparked widespread fear among Rohingya communities, with many expressing concern that the information could be used to pressure families, target specific individuals, or seize properties left behind.
These developments occur amid ongoing insecurity in parts of Arakan under militia control, which residents say has heightened fear and uncertainty and made the safe return of displaced families extremely difficult.
Since 2017, more than one million Rohingya have fled waves of violence and persecution in Arakan State, Myanmar, seeking refuge in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
