Press Release

Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) Rejects ULA Report, Condemns Biased Narrative and Erasure of Rohingya Suffering 

Introduction
The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) categorically rejects the United League of Arakan’s report titled “Violence Against Civilians by Islamist Armed Groups in Northern Arakan: An In-Depth Analysis” as a politically motivated, extensively and willfully fabricated document that weaponizes civilian suffering to advance an anti-Rohingya narrative.

ARNC condemns without reservation all attacks against civilians, whether the victims are Rohingya, Rakhine, Hindu, Mro, Khumi, Daingnet, Thet, Maramagyi, or any other community. At the same time, ARNC strongly opposes the manipulation of human rights language to criminalize the Rohingya people.

The ULA report repeatedly frames alleged abuses by armed actors through inflammatory religious language such as “Islamist terrorist groups,” “religious domination,” “exclusive Muslim zone,” and “caliphate.” This creates the false impression that Rohingya identity, Muslim faith, and armed extremism are inseparable. This is not neutral documentation, but it is propaganda designed to produce fear, suspicion, and hostility toward already persecuted people.

This rebuttal responds to the ULA report by exposing its selective framing, challenging its anti-Rohingya narrative, and reaffirming ARNC’s commitment to truth, accountability, equal rights, protection of all civilians, and peaceful coexistence among all peoples of Arakan.

1. ULA’s report begins by denying Rohingya belonging
The report opens with a deceptive historical narrative that portrays Muslims in Arakan as mainly the result of colonial-era migration from Chittagong. It claims that British colonial migration “significantly altered” northern Arakan’s demographic and religious composition.

This is not an academic historical discussion. It is a purely political lie rooted in racist bigotry and Rohingya-phobia.  The same narrative has long been used by the Myanmar military, anti-Rohingya nationalist forces, and Rakhine separatist actors: first portray Rohingya as foreigners, then as demographic threats, then as terrorists and remove them from their ancestral land.

ARNC rejects this concoction in the strongest terms. Rohingya are not foreigners, guests, or colonial intruders. They are an indigenous people and integral part of Arakan with deep historical, cultural, linguistic, and religious roots in the land. Even the ULA report itself admits that a Muslim presence existed in Arakan before British colonial rule, although it minimizes that presence by describing it as “relatively smaller.”

Independent historical materials also show that Francis Buchanan-Hamilton’s 1799 account referred to Muslims connected to Arakan who called themselves “Rooinga,” meaning natives of Arakan. Later scholars confirms that Buchanan recorded this term in the late eighteenth century, long before modern political disputes over Rohingya identity.

The ULA report also ignores the reverse side of demographic engineering. Cross-border movement by Rakhine into Arakan from Chittagong. Thousands of Rakhine from Bangladesh crossed into Arakan with the support, encouragement, or tolerance of successive Burmese regimes and local Rakhine political actors. There are many accounts of Rohingya homes, properties, and farmland being confiscated or appropriated to settle newly arrived Rakhine communities, including the establishment of so-called “model villages” on land historically owned and cultivated by Rohingya families.

This process dispossessed Rohingya of ancestral land and altered local demographics in ways rarely acknowledged by those who accuse Rohingya of being “migrants.” The phenomenon continues to affect Rohingya communities even today, with some Rakhine settlers and newly arrived actors involved in persecution, land and property seizure, livestock seizure, intimidation, and violence against Rohingya.

The report’s opening narrative is especially dangerous because it turns a human rights issue into a demographic accusation. Rohingya population figures have collapsed not because Rohingya are outsiders, but because of mass displacement, persecution, denial of citizenship, village destruction, and systematic efforts to remove Rohingya from Arakan.

The long history of Rohingya suffering and demographic alteration started with the 1942 massacre. During the Japanese invasion of Burma, Arakan fell into chaos as British forces retreated and law and order collapsed. In this power vacuum, Rakhine and Burmese racist and ultranationalist actors aided by certain politicians committed violence against Rohingya Muslims. From late March through April and May 1942, attacks spread across central Arakan, including Minbya, Myebon, Pauktaw, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, and Rathedaung. Rohingya villages were burned, homes were looted, and civilians were killed with swords and spears. Women and children were killed, escape routes were blocked, and entire villages were destroyed. As a result, Muslim majority in these townships were erased forever.

The violence caused massive displacement and left a lasting scar on the Rohingya community. Many Rohingya fled north toward Maungdaw and Buthidaung or crossed into British India, especially Chittagong. Rohingya narratives often cite over 140,000 Muslim deaths and around 300 Muslim villages destroyed. The 1942 violence divided Arakan into a mainly Muslim north and Buddhist south and shattered the coexistence that had existed before.

The demographic reality in Arakan shows a clear pattern of Rohingya displacement and reduction. While Rohingya have been forced to flee to Bangladesh and other neighboring countries, often risking their lives in search of safety, Rakhine populations from the Chittagong area and even from Nepal have been settling in Arakan, including on lands and properties once owned by Rohingya families. In 2010, the Rohingya population in Arakan was estimated at around three million and could have grown to around four million under normal conditions. Instead, fewer than a few hundred thousand remain in Arakan, today.

More than one million Rohingya now live in Bangladesh, while more than half a million each are believed to live in Pakistan and the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands more live across South Asian countries, with thousands scattered across Europe, North America, Australia, and other parts of the world. This sharp decline and global dispersal are not the result of voluntary migration, but of systematic persecution, repeated expulsions, killings, denial of citizenship, destruction of homes, prevention of return, and policies aimed at erasing the Rohingya presence from their ancestral homeland.

Therefore, the central problem with the ULA report is not only what it says about armed groups, but how it frames the entire Rohingya people before presenting its allegations. By beginning with colonial-migration claims and demographic anxiety, the report places collective suspicion over an entire indigenous community. This is the same logic used for decades to justify apartheid-like restrictions, statelessness, movement bans, segregation, mass expulsion, and genocide.

2. ULA’s “Summary of Civilian Atrocities and Forced Disappearances” is not a neutral victim account
The ULA report’s section titled “A Summary of Civilian Atrocities and Forced Disappearances in Northern Arakan” is framing deeply fabricated and politically constructed. It claims that, between November 2023 and January 2026, “Islamist militant groups, primarily ARSA,” killed 162 civilians, injured 22, and forcibly disappeared 30 people, while only 15 survived after being targeted. It then states that these figures show a “clear pattern” of deliberate attacks driven by political and religious motivations.

ARNC does not defend any unlawful killing, abduction, or abuse by any armed actor. Every credible allegation against any group should be independently investigated. But ULA’s presentation is not an independent investigation. It isolates alleged crimes by Rohingya-associated armed groups while minimizing or omitting grave abuses committed by the Arakan Army/ULA itself against Rohingya civilians.

ULA’s report has also avoided mentioning the killings and mutilation of Rohingya civilians carried out by AA forces in the Rohingya village they captured. In several villages, several men of different age were killed and brutally mutilated in what appeared to be an attempt to instill fear among the Rohingya population. Open-source evidence, including images and reports of mutilated bodies was widely available, yet these atrocities were completely ignored or omitted by ULA.

Fortify Rights’ July 2025 findings further undermine any attempt to ignore or minimize abuses committed against Rohingya civilians in areas under Arakan Army control. The organization called for the Arakan Army to be investigated for possible war crimes, including abductions, torture, killings, and beheadings of Rohingya civilians. Fortify Rights also documented multiple killings in AA-controlled villages and detention sites, including five apparent beheadings. These findings demonstrate that the allegations are not isolated or unsubstantiated claims, but serious and documented abuses by ULA aligned armed group AA.

The most serious flaw is that ULA treats Rohingya-associated armed groups as the central danger to civilians while ignoring the broader context in which Rohingya civilians have been trapped between the Myanmar military, the Arakan Army, forced recruitment, village destruction, movement restrictions, and collective suspicion.

Human Rights Watch’s 18 May 2026 report directly undermines ULA’s self-portrayal. HRW found that on 2 May 2024 alone, the Arakan Army may have killed at least 170 Rohingya men, women, and children in Hoyyar Siri village in Buthidaung Township, and likely injured or killed many more. HRW said AA fighters fired on civilians who were trying to flee fighting between the AA and Myanmar military forces, and that the killings amounted to grave violations and war crimes.

This is crucial because ULA’s report accuses others of civilian atrocities while refusing to apply the same standard to its own forces. HRW reported that the ULA/AA denied killing civilians at Hoyyar Siri, but HRW’s findings were based on 41 witness interviews, satellite imagery, and verified photographs and videos. HRW also found that survivors said ULA/AA coerced some villagers into giving false video testimony exonerating the group. This directly challenges the credibility of ULA’s methodology and narrative.

The ULA report also manipulates victim identity. It highlights that Arakanese Buddhists were the largest share of victims in its dataset, while Muslims, Hindus, Khumi, Mro, and Daingnet are listed as smaller categories. But this dataset is not a complete picture of civilian suffering in northern Arakan. It excludes or downplays mass Rohingya suffering under AA/ULA control, including killings, village burning, forced displacement, detention, confiscation of property, and restrictions on movement.

ARNC’s rebuttal therefore states clearly: ULA’s figures cannot be accepted at face value without independent verification, transparent methodology, victim-family testimony, access to all affected communities, and investigation of ULA/AA abuses as well. A credible report would examine all perpetrators, including the Myanmar junta and the Arakan Army/ULA itself. Instead, ULA’s section functions as an indictment of Rohingya-associated groups while avoiding accountability for the AA’s own alleged war crimes against Rohingya civilians.

A fair conclusion is this: ULA cannot credibly accuse others of civilian atrocities while refusing accountability for the Arakan Army’s own documented abuses. Rohingya civilians are not merely bystanders in this conflict; they are victims of grave crimes by both the Myanmar junta and the Arakan Army. Any human rights report that excludes this reality is incomplete, distortion, and politically motivated.

3. The report falsely connects Rohingya identity with terrorism
ARNC categorically rejects any attempt to connect the Rohingya people with terrorism or armed violence. No armed group represents the Rohingya nation, and no armed actor has the right to speak in the name of an entire persecuted people. The overwhelming majority of Rohingya are civilians: farmers, fishermen, traders, teachers, students, religious leaders, mothers, fathers, children, elderly people, and displaced families. They are survivors of genocide, mass displacement, statelessness, and systematic persecution. They are not perpetrators of terrorism but victims of terrorism.

ARNC’s position is clear: any armed group or individual that attacks civilians, recruits by force, abducts people, extorts communities, abuses women, loots property, or commits crimes against any community must be independently investigated and held accountable. Civilian suffering must never be justified, regardless of the identity of the victims or perpetrators.

However, ULA/AA and its supporters are trying to hide their crimes against humanity committed against the Rohingya by pointing fingers at others. They should remember that when one points a finger at others, four fingers point back at themselves. They must not use the actions of any armed group to criminalize the Rohingya people. This is a dangerous and racist method of collective blame. It repeats the same language that has been used for decades to dehumanize the Rohingya, deny their identity, and justify violence against them.

Rohingya political demands are not extremist. Rohingya demand citizenship, recognition of their ethnic identity, freedom of movement, protection from persecution, restoration of land and property, safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons, justice for victims, and equal rights for all communities in Arakan. These are basic human rights demands. They are not terrorism. They are not a call for domination over others. They are a call for dignity, equality, safety, and survival.

4. The report uses numbers and charts without credible methodology and erases Rohingya suffering
The ULA report attempts to present Rohingya-linked actors as the main source of danger while ignoring the long and well-documented history of violence against Rohingya. This is a selective and dishonest narrative. Rohingya persecution did not begin with recent armed groups. It has deep roots in decades of state-backed discrimination, denial of citizenship, restrictions on movement, land confiscation, forced displacement, arbitrary arrest, village destruction, and mass violence.

The most serious omission is the silence around the 2016-2017 Rohingya genocide and the role played by Rakhine extremist elements, nationalist networks, and local mobs in attacks against Rohingya villages. During these operations, the Myanmar military was the principal perpetrator, but it was not the only actor involved. Rohingya civilians were killed, women were raped, homes and properties were burned, belongings were looted, and entire villages were wiped out.

More than 700 000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in a matter of weeks, while international investigators found evidence of genocidal intent by Myanmar’s military leadership. Therefore, any report that discusses civilian suffering in Arakan while ignoring this central history is not balanced. It is selective memory serving political and racist intent.

ARNC does not blame the entire Rakhine people. Many ordinary Rakhine civilians have also suffered from war, militarization, displacement, and dictatorship. But Rakhine extremist actors who participated in the destruction of Rohingya villages and properties must not be erased from history. Their role must be investigated, documented, and brought before justice.

ARNC possesses extensive evidence of Rohingya suffering and destruction perpetrated by AA/ULA. This includes thousands of photographs and videos of Rohingya victims, burned villages, destroyed homes, looted properties, mass displacement, and other crimes committed against Rohingya civilians. There are documented instances in which Rohingya were burned alive. Whole villages were burned down. In downtown Buthidaung and surrounding areas, thousands of houses belonging to Rohingya were reduced to ashes, and survivors were not allowed to return and rebuild their homes.

This destruction was not accidental. It was part of a broader pattern of persecution designed to remove Rohingya from their land, destroy their community life, and erase their presence from Arakan. When houses are burned, land is confiscated, survivors are blocked from rebuilding, and victims are then blamed as security threats, this is not justice. It is ethnic cleansing by another name.

ULA/AA cannot present itself as a neutral protector while avoiding scrutiny of abuses committed under its control or by forces aligned with its political project. A report produced by ULA cannot be treated as independent evidence when ULA itself is a party to the crimes and has political interests in shaping the narrative.

ARNC will release its evidence at the appropriate time and in the appropriate forums. Until then, ULA/AA must not be allowed to concoct history, erase Rohingya victimhood, or turn international attention away from crimes committed against Rohingya civilians.

Justice for all civilians in Arakan is necessary. ARNC recognizes the suffering of Rakhine, Hindu, Mro, Khumi, Daingnet, Thet, Maramagyi, and other communities. Their suffering deserves recognition and accountability. But justice for one community cannot be built on the denial of another community’s genocide. Justice cannot be achieved through propaganda, selective reporting, collective blame, or the erasure of Rohingya history.

True peace in Arakan requires truth, accountability, equal rights, and protection for every community. It requires recognition that Rohingya are an indigenous and persecuted people of Arakan with the right to live safely in their homeland. It requires the restoration of citizenship, land, property, dignity, and freedom. Anything less will only deepen injustice and prolong conflict.

5. ARNC’s principled position
ARNC’s position is clear:

1. We condemn all attacks on civilians.
2. We condemn the Myanmar military’s genocide against Rohingya.
3. We condemn the Arakan Army’s continued genocidal campaign against Rohingya.
4. We condemn the role of Rakhine extremist elements and vigilante mobs in burning Rohingya villages and properties during the genocide.
5. We condemn any Rohingya armed actor that attacks civilians or abuses communities.
6. We condemn forced recruitment, abduction, extortion, rape, religious intimidation, and collective punishment.
7. We reject the labeling of Rohingya civilians as terrorists.
8. We reject the use of counterterrorism language to justify ethnic repression.
9. We demand accountabilities for all perpetrators.

No group has the right to commit crimes in the name of Rohingya. No authority has the right to persecute Rohingya in the name of security.

6. Our Stand
Rohingya are an indigenous people and integral part of Arakan. They have lived in Arakan for centuries, and numerous physical, written, historical, cultural, and documentary evidences in Arakan and in other parts of the world are available to support this truth. Rohingya are not foreigners, guests, or colonial intruders. They are native people of Arakan with deep roots in the land, its history, and its society.

For centuries, Rohingya lived peacefully side by side with the Rakhine as a sister community before Arakan was annexed into greater Burma in 1784. Even after annexation, Rohingya continued to live peacefully in Arakan until the 1942 massacre shattered this coexistence. During the democratic period from 1948 to 1962, Rohingya enjoyed the same standard of recognition and participation as other communities, including the Rakhine. Rohingya had parliamentarians, Rohingya radio program, and access to government offices. At one period, Rohingya also received a degree of autonomy in the Mayu Frontier Region.

The marginalization of Rohingya began after the military takeover of the country by General Ne Win in 1962. From that time, Rakhine politicians and extremist elements began instigating Burmese politicians and inciting the wider Burmese public against Rohingya. This resulted in introduction of 1982 citizenship law and repeated operations against our people under different names and forms, eventually leading to the genocide of 2016/2017.

After the Arakan Army consolidated power in Arakan, the situation became even more terrible. The AA has persecuted Rohingya in increasingly inhuman ways, with the intention of cleansing the remaining Rohingya from the soil of Arakan. ARNC therefore stands firm in protecting Rohingya indigenous rights, identity, security, dignity, and future in their ancestral homeland.

ARNC stands for justice, accountability, safe return, restitution, and peaceful coexistence. ARNC will work to hold all perpetrators accountable and bring them before justice, including the Myanmar military, the Arakan Army/ULA, Rakhine extremist perpetrators, and any other accomplices responsible for crimes against Rohingya and other civilians. ARNC will work to create a conducive environment in Arakan so that Rohingya refugees and displaced people can return in safety, dignity, and security.

We will knock on every door and take all necessary steps, in every appropriate form and forum, to deliver justice to the victims. At the same time, ARNC stands ready to enter sincere dialogue with all actors for the sake of truth, justice, accountability, equal rights, and lasting peace in Arakan.

On this basis, ARNC calls for:

1. An independent international investigation into all civilian killings, disappearances, village burnings, forced recruitment, sexual violence, land confiscation, property destruction, and other abuses in northern Arakan.
2. A full investigation of the 2016-2017 Rohingya genocide, including the role of Myanmar military units, police, border guards, Rakhine extremist networks, local vigilante mobs, nationalist organizations, and all accomplices.
3. An investigation of the countless atrocities committed by the Arakan Army/ULA against Rohingya in Arakan, including killings, forced displacement, restrictions, looting, detention, intimidation, and destruction of Rohingya homes and properties.
4. Immediate protection of all civilians, including Rohingya, Rakhine, Hindu, Mro, Khumi, Daingnet, Thet, Maramagyi, and all other communities.
5. An end to collective labeling of Rohingya as “terrorists,” “Bengalis,” “foreigners,” or “security threats.”
6. Access for UN agencies, international media, humanitarian organizations, and independent investigators to all communities in Arakan, including Rohingya villages, IDP camps, refugee return areas, and areas under ULA/AA control.
7. Accountability for all armed actors, including the Myanmar military junta, Rakhine extremist perpetrators, AA/ULA, Rohingya armed groups and any other actor responsible for crimes.
8. Recognition of Rohingya identity, citizenship, indigenous rights, land rights, freedom of movement, safe and dignified return, equal protection under law, and the restoration of homes, lands, properties, and livelihoods.

Conclusion

The ULA report is not a neutral or balanced account of civilian suffering in Arakan. It is a politically motivated document that fabricates and selectively frames certain allegations while ignoring the long history of Rohingya persecution, genocide, displacement, and land confiscation.

ARNC mourns every innocent life lost and demands accountability for every perpetrator and strongly rejects any attempt to portray the Rohingya community as responsible for the actions of any armed group. Rohingya civilians have suffered decades of systematic oppression and mass violence. They have lost their homes, lands, family members, villages, livelihoods, and basic freedoms. Many were killed, many were burned alive, and thousands of Rohingya-owned homes and properties were destroyed, including in Buthidaung and other parts of Arakan.

The demographic reality itself exposes the scale of this persecution. Rohingya presence in their homeland has been devastated by forced displacement, mass killing, denial of citizenship, destruction of homes, prevention of return, and policies designed to remove Rohingya from their ancestral land. To ignore this reality while claiming to speak about justice and civilian suffering is deeply absurd and hypocritical.

ULA/AA cannot investigate itself, rewrite history, or present itself as a protector while avoiding scrutiny of abuses committed under its authority or by actors aligned with its political agenda. The suffering of Rakhine, Hindu, Mro, Khumi, Daingnet, Thet, Maramagyi, and other civilians must be recognized, but it must never be weaponized to deny immense suffering of Rohingya or justify hatred against them.

True peace in Arakan cannot be built on denial, fear, demographic erasure, or ethnic hatred. It must be built on truth, justice, accountability, equal rights, restoration of citizenship, return of land and property, protection of all civilians, and recognition of Rohingya as an indigenous and persecuted people of Arakan. Only through truth and justice can Arakan move toward lasting peace and peaceful coexistence among all communities.

 For more information, please contact:

• Tun Khin: +44 78 8871 4866
• Nay San Lwin: +49 176 6213 9138
• Khairul Amin: +47 9 242 8989

Press Release

ARNC Strongly Supports HRW Report on Arakan Army Massacre; Urges Immediate International Action to Prevent ‘Final Genocide’ of Rohingya

The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) welcomes and strongly supports the Human Rights Watch report, “Skeletons and Skulls Scattered Everywhere”. Arakan Army Massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Hoyyar Siri, Myanmar, released on 18 May 2026.

The report provides deeply disturbing evidence that the Arakan Army killed at least 170 Rohingya men, women, and children in Hoyyar Siri village, Buthidaung Township, on 2nd May 2024, with the actual death toll likely far higher. Human Rights Watch’s findings, based on survivor testimonies, satellite imagery, and verified photographs and videos, confirm what Rohingya survivors, communities, and leaders have been reporting for the past two years: that the Arakan Army has committed grave atrocities against Rohingya civilians amounting to war crimes.

This report also confirms ARNC’s long-standing claims that the Arakan Army’s atrocities against the Rohingya people are widespread, systematic, and far more rampant than previously acknowledged. The Hoyyar Siri massacre is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader campaign of persecution, violence, displacement, and terror against Rohingya civilians across Arakan.

ARNC expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of the Hoyyar Siri massacre and to all Rohingya civilians who have been killed, disappeared, detained, tortured, displaced, forcibly recruited, or forced to flee under Arakan Army persecution. Across Arakan, many thousands of Rohingya have been killed, displaced, starved, detained, and terrorized. Thousands more have perished at sea while attempting to flee persecution, siege, starvation, and systematic violence. This never-ending violence has become a continuing tragedy for the Rohingya people.

The international community must not remain silent. Silence in the face of these atrocities will be understood by the perpetrators as consent. Continued inaction will only embolden the Arakan Army to persecute the Rohingya with total impunity and may lead to the final genocide of the remaining Rohingya in Arakan.

ARNC calls on the United Nations, ASEAN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, regional powers, and all concerned governments to take urgent action to protect Rohingya civilians in Arakan. The international community must support independent investigations, preserve evidence, and ensure accountability for all perpetrators, including the Arakan Army and its political wing, the United League of Arakan.

ARNC further calls for:

1. An immediate end to all attacks, persecution, forced labor, arbitrary detention, movement restrictions, forced recruitment, and starvation policies against Rohingya civilians in Arakan.
2. Unrestricted humanitarian access to all Rohingya communities under Arakan Army control.
3. Full cooperation by the Arakan Army and United League of Arakan with the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, and other international accountability bodies.
4. Targeted sanctions against Arakan Army and United League of Arakan leaders credibly implicated in atrocities against Rohingya civilians.
5. International protection mechanisms for the remaining Rohingya in Arakan, who face an existential threat.
6. Full accountability for the Myanmar military’s genocidal acts and genocide committed against Rohingya during the 2016/2017 so-called clearance operations. The Myanmar military and its commanders must be held responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
7. Recognition that conditions do not exist for the safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to Arakan while the Arakan Army and Myanmar military continue to persecute Rohingya civilians.

The Rohingya people have already survived decades of state-sponsored genocide, apartheid, mass displacement, and denial of citizenship. They must not now be abandoned to a new wave of persecution under the Arakan Army.

ARNC urges the international community to act before it is too late. Justice delayed will mean more mass graves, more deaths at sea, and the genocide of the remaining Rohingya people in their ancestral homeland.

 For more information, please contact:

• Tun Khin: +44 78 8871 4866
• Nay San Lwin: +49 176 6213 9138
• Khairul Amin: +47 9 242 8989

Press Release

Rohingya Boat Sinking is a Direct Result of Global Failure

The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) expresses its profound grief and outrage over the sinking of a refugee boat in the Andaman Sea carrying approximately 250–280 people, mainly Rohingya refugees. The boat had departed from Teknaf in Bangladesh and was bound for Malaysia before capsizing after days at sea in overcrowded conditions. These were genocide survivors, including women and children. The majority are now feared missing.

This tragedy has devastated Rohingya communities already enduring years of persecution and displacement. Entire families have been lost, and others left separated across the region as loved ones wait in anguish for news. These journeys are undertaken despite the known risk of death, not out of choice, but out of desperation. This is also not an isolated incident. Deadly maritime journeys involving Rohingya refugees are increasing, with hundreds killed in similar incidents in 2024 and 2025 alone. They are also not accidental. They are the direct result of ongoing genocide and persecution in Myanmar, protracted statelessness, and the continued failure of the international community to act.

Without sustained and meaningful pressure, more Rohingya will be forced onto these journeys, and more lives will be lost. The impunity of Myanmar’s military leadership, including Min Aung Hlaing, has allowed crimes against the Rohingya to continue without consequence. At the same time, Rohingya communities in Rakhine State face ongoing violence and atrocity crimes, including under the control of the Arakan Army, making safe return impossible.

Conditions for Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh are intolerable. Severe restrictions on livelihoods and the inability to work have left families with no viable future. Cuts to humanitarian aid, including food rations, have deepened hardship, while prolonged uncertainty has driven widespread despair. Increasing numbers of Rohingya continue to arrive, fleeing violence against Rohingya by the Arakan Army in Rakhine State. These conditions are forcing families to leave, not by choice, but because they have no other option.

Human trafficking networks are exploiting this desperation. Rohingya refugees are lured onto boats with false promises of employment and safety abroad, including in Malaysia, only to face inhumane conditions at sea. These networks operate across the region in a well-established system of exploitation, sustained by the absence of protection and accountability. According to our credible sources, from whom we have collected information over several years, human traffickers gather victims in Thamee Hla village, located in Rathedaung Township of Rakhine State, under the supervision of the Arakan Army. This human-trafficking hub must be dismantled by any means necessary to prevent further tragedies.

The continued loss of Rohingya lives at sea is the direct consequence of a failure to protect them. The international community has not upheld its commitments, has not applied sufficient pressure on Myanmar and other responsible actors, and has allowed this crisis to continue. This is a profound betrayal of the Rohingya people.

The ARNC calls on the international community, including the United Nations and ASEAN, to take immediate and concrete action to:

• Dismantle and prosecute human trafficking networks;
• Restore and increase humanitarian funding for Rohingya refugees;
• Strengthen international protection mechanisms;
• Ensure accountability for perpetrators of crimes against the Rohingya; and
• Exert sustained pressure to create conditions for safe, voluntary, and dignified repatriation with full citizenship rights and guarantees of protection.

The ARNC remains committed to advocating for justice, protection, and the full restoration of the rights of the Rohingya people.

For more information, please contact:

• Tun Khin: +44 78 8871 4866
• Nay San Lwin: +49 176 6213 9138
• Khairul Amin: +47 9 242 8989

Press Release

ARNC Condemns Illegitimate Presidency of Min Aung Hlaing

The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) unequivocally condemns the appointment of Min Aung Hlaing as President of Myanmar by a military-dominated parliament produced through a so-called election that has been widely condemned by the United Nations, democratic governments, and independent observers as a sham designed to legitimize continued military rule. This is not a democratic transition, but a deliberate attempt to entrench military rule under the guise of civilian governance.

The parliamentary process that elevated Min Aung Hlaing to the presidency was fundamentally illegitimate. It was conducted within a system structurally controlled by the military, where 25% of seats are unelected and reserved for serving officers. Opposition parties were banned or boycotted, and the outcome was predetermined by military in favor of their own actors and cronies. The overwhelming victory secured by Min Aung Hlaing makes the so-called election a subject of ridicule for both national and international communities, reflecting not the will of the people but the consolidation of power by force.

Min Aung Hlaing’s elevation to the presidency comes despite overwhelming evidence of his responsibility for some of the gravest crimes of the 21st century. Under his command, Myanmar military with support from extremist elements within the Rakhine community carried out the 2016/2017 campaign against the Rohingya people which has resulted in mass killings, systematic sexual violence, the burning of hundreds of villages, and the forced displacement of over one million Rohingya into Bangladesh and tens of thousands in other neighboring countries.

Today, he stands not as a legitimate head of state, but as an alleged perpetrator of genocide and crimes against humanity. He faces the risk of arrest should he set foot in a democratic country, because on February 13, 2025, a federal court in Buenos Aires, Argentina issued international arrest warrants against him and other senior officials under the principle of universal jurisdiction for genocide and crimes against humanity.

In November 2024, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed an application for an arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity, including deportation and persecution of the Rohingya.

These legal actions affirm what victims have long known as there is no legitimacy in impunity.

Furthermore, Min Aung Hlaing’s presidency follows five years of devastating civil war triggered by his illegal coup in 2021. Thousands of innocents have been killed, millions displaced.  Myanmar today stands as a nation in collapse under military tyranny.

The ARNC rejects unequivocally the legitimacy of the 2026 election, the authority of the military-controlled parliament to appoint Min Aung Hlaing as president of the country. We reaffirm that any political structure built upon violence, exclusion, and impunity cannot represent the people of Myanmar.

We stand in solidarity with all oppressed people across Myanmar, including pro-democracy forces, in their struggle to dismantle military dictatorship and establish a genuine federal democratic union grounded in justice, accountability, and human rights.

The fact that Min Aung Hlaing has been emboldened to assume the presidency despite his record of grave crimes is a direct consequence of the international community’s silence and failure to take meaningful action. This continued inaction has enabled impunity and prolonged suffering across Myanmar.

Today, much of Arakan State is effectively under the control of the Arakan Army (AA), which has been persecuting Rohingya survivors of genocide even with more brutality. These actions appear driven by a deliberate intent to expel and eradicate the remaining Rohingya population from their ancestral land, in pursuit of an Arakan State devoid of Rohingya presence.

We reiterate that bringing Min Aung Hlaing and other perpetrators to justice is of paramount importance and must not be delayed if there is any genuine commitment to preventing Myanmar from becoming a failed state and to stopping the erasure of Rohingya from Arakan State.

Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) calls upon the international community to:

• Refuse recognition of Min Aung Hlaing’s presidency
• Support ongoing proceedings at the International Court of Justice concerning genocide against Rohingya community.
• Ensure enforcement of international arrest warrants, including those issued by Argentine courts
• Increase coordinated pressure, including sanctions and accountability mechanisms, against the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA).
• Urgent call for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Myanmar. Both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army are failing to comply with the provisional measures to prevent genocide ordered by the International Court of Justice.

Justice for the Rohingya and all victims in Myanmar cannot be delayed, denied, or negotiated away.

For more information, please contact:

• Tun Khin: +44 78 8871 4866
• Nay San Lwin: +49 176 6213 9138
• Khairul Amin: +47 9 242 8989

Press Release

ARNC Congratulates BNP on Electoral Victory and Calls for a Permanent Political Solution to the Rohingya Crisis

The Arakan Rohingya National Council (ARNC) extends its sincere congratulations to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on its electoral success, and to Mr. Tarique Rahman as he stands as the hopeful Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The people of Bangladesh have once again demonstrated their democratic will. We commend this important political milestone and recognize the responsibility that accompanies renewed leadership at a time of regional and humanitarian complexity.

Bangladesh has carried an extraordinary humanitarian responsibility by hosting 1.2 million Rohingya refugees fleeing genocide. The generosity of the Bangladeshi people remains deeply respected and remembered by the Rohingya community worldwide. At this critical juncture, ARNC looks forward to constructive engagement with your leadership and your government to pursue a comprehensive and durable solution to the Rohingya crisis. The time has come to move beyond temporary arrangements toward a permanent framework that ensures:

1. Safe, voluntary, and dignified return to our ancestral homeland
2. Ethnic & citizenship rights, security guarantees and international monitoring
3. Binding safeguards to prevent repetition of atrocities and exodus

The Rohingya issue is not merely a humanitarian crisis, it is fundamentally a political issue that directly concerns Bangladesh and extends beyond its borders. While humanitarian assistance remains essential, lasting solutions cannot be achieved without addressing the root political causes. The crisis has clear implications for regional stability, security, and international law, making it a matter of shared political responsibility for Bangladesh and the broader international community.

We recall the leadership of the late President Ziaur Rahman, whose firm diplomatic engagement during the 1978 refugee crisis contributed to the repatriation process following mass displacement. While subsequent influxes revealed the limitations of repatriation without structural guarantees, that period demonstrated how principled and decisive leadership can influence regional outcomes.

Today, renewed diplomatic initiative, regional coordination, and firm commitment to international law will be essential. A sustainable resolution to the Rohingya crisis is not only a humanitarian imperative but also vital for Bangladesh and long-term regional security and stability.

ARNC stands ready to work in partnership with your government to advance meaningful dialogue, accountability, and a permanent political solution, one that restores dignity, protects rights, and ensures that history does not repeat itself.

We look forward to constructive cooperation and your guidance with regard to a permanent solution to the problem faced by both Rohingya and Bangladesh.

For more information, please contact:

• Tun Khin: +44 78 8871 4866
• Nay San Lwin: +49 176 6213 9138
• Khairul Amin: +47 9 242 8989