Myanmar military using old tactics to ‘incite conflict’ between Rohingya and Rakhine communities, locals warn

As the Arakan Army (AA) gains increasing influence and territory in Rakhine State, locals say the military is responding by employing a strategy of divide-and-rule between Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims in an attempt to establish dominance over the troubled region. Since late last year, the AA, an ethnic Rakhine armed organisation, seized several towns previously under regime control after expanding their reach in the state following Myanmar’s 2021 military coup. At the time of reporting, they had captured Myebon, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, and Rathedaung townships in northern Rakhine State, Ramree in southern Rakhine, and Paletwa in Chin State. The armed group has also increased its movements in the state’s southern townships of Taungup, Ann, Kyaukphyu, and Thandwe, according to locals. The junta responded by conscripting locals in the southern townships of Thandwe, Gwa and Manaung, as well as forcibly recruiting Rohingya from internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps in Buthidaung, Sittwe, and Kyaukphyu. In March, the AA offered to protect Rohingya youth fleeing junta conscription. Later that month on social media, AA commander Twan Mrat Naing referred to the Rohingya, who he described as “our neighbours and our friends for centuries,” as “Bengalis.” The community rejects the term because of the implication that they come from Bangladesh. Myanmar Now previously reported how, on March 19, around 100 Rohingya, including children, gathered in protest in Buthidaung against the AA in an event that was shared on pro-junta social media accounts and seen as a regime propaganda effort. At the time, local Rohingya said the military had forced people to take part in the demonstration. These allegations have continued as similar protests were seen in the state capital of Sittwe on April 19. Anti-AA protests in Buthidaung in March (Supplied) A 40-year-old Rohingya man from the city told Myanmar Now that the Rohingya were banned from protesting even against the genocide of their own people during previous military operations in 2017 and 2012 that razed Rohingya villages and involved mass murders and widespread sexual violence. No public demonstration can be held in the region without the military’s backing and approval, or possibly even without their orders, he insisted. “It would be more understandable if the Rohingya people were given a chance to protest during the [earlier] conflicts. Did we get to have any meaningful negotiations at that time?” he asked rhetorically, adding, “It is clear who is making them protest like this.” The man said that military authorities sent an order to Rohingya residents of Sittwe Township on April 18 directing them to protest against the AA the next day, and threatening to seal off villages that failed to comply. “There’s a military outpost or gate in every village and they have set the times for when to protest and when to come back. They said they would not allow anyone to pass through the gate if they did not protest.” He added that the Rohingya community is struggling with rising prices of basic commodities, and gastrointestinal infections are on the rise due to a lack of food, clean water, medicines, and sanitation; in April, more than 80 people in Rohingya IDP camps in Sittwe died of dysentery. “They are not allowing us to bring in basic necessities amid these threats, so we had no choice but to attend the protest,” the Rohingya man explained. “Whenever they see us, Rakhine people ask us why we protested against the AA. We just have to tell them that we have no choice as we are also starving.” A Rohingya family shelters under a makeshift tent in an IDP camp near Sittwe on May 17, 2023, after Cyclone Mocha hit the region and destroyed their home (EPA-EFE) In an AA statement released on the day of the Sittwe protest, the group’s spokesperson Khaing Thukha commented that the military was using “various cunning methods” to cause interethnic tension in Rakhine State. “If these conditions do not improve, we are heading towards inevitable conflict,” the Rohingya man from Sittwe said. AA troops seen next to flags from the ethnic armed organisation November 2023 (Supplied) With the military council restricting ground and marine access to much of Rakhine State, those who are able to leave for AA-controlled areas or other Myanmar cities like Yangon have done so. However, for the Rohingya, who are widely denied citizenship documents, their freedom of movement is limited. Locals told Myanmar Now that in Sittwe, for example, the Rohingya residents have largely remained behind, while many Rakhine locals have fled. “We have to consider abandoning our homes and facing financial struggles in order to flee, although it promises safety,” said the Rohingya man from the state capital. “We are like a country with two kings now. We want only one ruler that is fair and just to the public.” In Buthidaung, where a dozen junta battalions are based along with multiple border guard units, the AA released footage showing the military burning area homes in mid-April. The acts were reminiscent of the scorched earth campaign waged by the Myanmar army in the same region seven years ago, forcing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from northern Rakhine to seek refuge in Bangladesh. Aung Kyaw Moe, deputy minister of the publicly mandated National Unity Government’s human rights ministry and a Rohingya activist, confirmed that the situation in Buthidaung was “very bad” and that the junta had been forcing Rohingya to attend protests, and “inciting conflict between local communities.” “We, as an organisation, should take action against the shameless military council’s atrocious and undignified actions,” he said.

Myanmar military using old tactics to ‘incite conflict’ between Rohingya and Rakhine communities, locals warn

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