ARNO Expresses Concern Over Crisis Group Report’s Misrepresentation of Rohingya Realities

Jul 6, 2025 | ARNO Press Release 

The Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) expresses its strongest condemnation of the International Crisis Group’s Asia Report No. 348, titled “The Dangers of a Rohingya Insurgency,” published on 18 June 2025. The report is troubled with dangerous distortions, unverified claims, and deeply biased narratives that marginalize the Rohingya community while emboldening the very perpetrators of ongoing atrocities.

Instead of accurately reflecting the ground realities in Rakhine State, the report irresponsibly portrays the Rohingya people’s existential struggle for survival, justice, and coexistence as a destabilizing force. This flawed framing effectively blames victims and undermines decades of peaceful efforts by Rohingya civil society, diaspora leaders, and political organizations.

Key Points of Rebuttal:

1. Genocide Under Arakan Army Control (2023–2024): The report egregiously omits that since 2023; the Arakan Army has taken control of most of Rakhine and has continued genocidal practices previously deployed by the Myanmar military. Using drones and heavy artillery, the Arakan Army launched indiscriminate attacks on Rohingya villages, displacing more than 100,000 civilians who fled to Bangladesh. These crimes mirror earlier mass atrocities committed by the Myanmar military.
2. Land Grabs, Settler Colonialism, and Demographic Engineering: Entire Rohingya villages have been forcibly depopulated by the Arakan Army and handed over to Rakhine Buddhist settlers. This systematic campaign of land seizure and population replacement reflects a broader agenda of demographic engineering long used as a tool of genocide.
3. Continued Persecution and Failure to Protect Civilians: Despite asserting de facto control over most of Rakhine, the Arakan Army has categorically failed to protect Rohingya civilians. Instead, it has perpetuated persecution and allowed abuses to continue under its authority. This failure, documented by the United Nations and other observers, exposes a troubling disregard for humanitarian obligations and minority rights.
4. Suppression of Dialogue and Rohingya Representation: Rohingya political organizations have made sincere, repeated efforts to initiate dialogue with the Arakan Army toward peaceful coexistence. All such attempts have been rejected or ignored. The Arakan Army continues to deny engagement with Rohingya actors, thereby excluding an indigenous ethnic group from shaping the future of its own homeland.
5. Misrepresentation of Rohingya Intentions and Capabilities: The report falsely frames the Rohingya community as a destabilizing threat, while failing to recognize their long-standing history in Rakhine State and their peaceful calls for coexistence. The Rohingya are an indigenous people, officially recognized before the 1982 Citizenship Law stripped them of legal status. Their commitment to inclusive governance has remained constant, despite betrayal by both the Myanmar state and ethnic allies.
6. Double Standards and Criminalization of Self-Protection: The report applies to a discriminatory double standard by glorifying the armed resistance of other ethnic groups while vilifying the Rohingya’s call for lawful self-protection. Most ethnic nationalities in Myanmar maintain armed forces in self-administered areas, yet Rohingya aspirations for community defence against tyranny are framed as insurgency a clear case of victim-blaming.
7. Forced Recruitment and Human Shields: Both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army have exploited Rohingya civilians as forced recruits and human shields. These individuals comply under threat of death, not out of ideological alignment. The report downplays these grave violations, further endangering Rohingya lives by misrepresenting their victimhood as militancy.
8. Undermining Repatriation and Reintegration: By demonizing Rohingya political aspirations and distorting their motives, the report directly undermines international efforts for voluntary repatriation and peaceful reintegration. It contributes to exclusionary narratives that justify the ongoing marginalization and statelessness of Rohingya refugees.

ARNO urges the International Crisis Group to retract or thoroughly revise this flawed report and engage in transparent consultation with legitimate Rohingya stakeholders. We also call on international governments, media, and civil society actors to reject narratives that fuel division and instead support the Rohingya people’s rightful place on the basis of “full and effective equality”.

True peace in Rakhine State can only be achieved through inclusive governance, equitable power-sharing, and full recognition of the Rohingya people’s rights to life, dignity, protection, and self-representation.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Mohammad Habib Ullah
Email: arno@rohingya.org/ info@rohingya.org