By: Hafizur Rahman
Maungdaw, Arakan State – July 24, 2025
Rohingya travelers in Maungdaw are facing fresh extortion and harassment by Arakan Army (AA) forces stationed at a critical road junction near Kyauk Hlay Gar Market. The junction connects three villages—Hlafoke Khawng, Pyin Phyu, and Kyauk Hlay Gar—and has become a checkpoint where only Rohingya-owned vehicles are being stopped and forced to pay money under the guise of “road maintenance fees.”
Multiple sources told Rohingya Khobor that the extortion occurred on July 22 and targeted motorcycles, three-wheelers, and private cars used by Rohingya residents. A local motorcyclist described the fees being demanded:
“They’ve set up camp at the road junction and stop every Rohingya vehicle. For motorcycles, they take 5,000 Kyats; for three-wheelers, it’s 10,000; and for private cars, 50,000. They say it’s for road repair—but no one sees any repairs happening.”
Residents report that no such fees are being collected from Rakhine or other non-Rohingya travelers, reinforcing what they call a clear pattern of discriminatory extortion.
“If we don’t pay, they send us back,” said one Rohingya man who was denied access to Maungdaw town. “But non-Rohingyas pass freely. There are no checks for them. It’s obvious—we are being targeted because we are Rohingya.”
This is not the first time AA has imposed financial burdens on the community. In January 2025, AA leaders reportedly summoned Rohingya businessmen and forced them to contribute over 100 million Kyats toward the so-called repair of roads and bridges, including the Kanyin Taw Bridge connecting Paw Zar and Shwe Zar. Additionally, each Rohingya-majority village was ordered to send 100 men daily to work on the roads—unpaid.
Human rights observers have condemned these practices.
“People are already displaced, economically destroyed, and surviving without basic rights,” said one local rights activist. “Forcing them to pay for infrastructure they are not even allowed to use equally is nothing short of extortion. The AA is replicating the same oppressive tactics once used by the Myanmar military.”
The targeting of Rohingya through arbitrary fees, discriminatory restrictions, and forced labor highlights a broader strategy of marginalization and control by the AA, say community members. In an area where access to food, healthcare, and movement is already tightly restricted, such financial demands push families deeper into debt and despair.
“It’s like paying for our own persecution,” said a youth from Pyin Phyu. “First they take our land, now they take our money—what’s left for us?”
The Arakan Army has not issued any public statement regarding the checkpoint or the reported extortion. In the absence of accountability or protection mechanisms, many Rohingya residents say they feel trapped in a cycle of abuse with no path to justice.
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