Myanmar conflict visibly exposes Rohingyas to fresh persecution

DE Online Desk
The ongoing armed clashes between government troops and rebel forces in Myanmar visibly exposed remaining Rohingyas at their homeland in Rakhine close to Bangladesh borders to persecution afresh with security reports suggesting the ethnic minority Muslim group was now being harassed by Arakan Army insurgents, security sources said on Wednesday.
Security and intelligence officials said a group of nearly 500 Rohingyas rallied at Buthidaung Township in Maungdaw District of Myanmar’s troubled Arakan province to mark their stance denying to be drafted in either of the rebels or the government troops. The Rohingyas said they wanted peace, not war in Rakhine.
“The government troops earlier wanted to draft Rohingyas to be their fighters against the rebels while the scenario now suggests the (rebel) Arakan Aramy want them to join the rebel force to fight against the junta rule,” one security official familiar with the development told BSS.
He said the army-led brutal crackdown forced over a million Rohingyas to flee their homes in 2027 when Bangladesh extended them makeshift refuge on humanitarian grounds. The majority Budhhist Rakhine population’s attitude towards the Rohingya’s at that time was visibly no different to that of the government troops while Arakan Army which comprises the Rakhines were believed to have taken a softer stance about Rohingyas after they launched an offensive against the military junta visibly to gain their support.
But the security reports gathered from the other side of the border suggested the more the Arakan Army established their position in Rakhine, the Rohingyas were exposed to their repression afresh.
The security report came as a second group of 177 Myanmar’s paramilitary Border Guard Police (BGP) has taken refuge in Bangladesh and currently they are under Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) custody in Naikkhanchhari area of bordering Bandarban district awaiting repatriation process.