By: Camp Correspondent
July 13, 2025
The Ma Kyay Chaung border guard outpost, located along the western frontier of Maungdaw Township in Rakhine State, has come under the control of the Arakan Army (AA). Previously held by Myanmar’s border guard forces, the strategic outpost is now visibly flying AA colors.
Photographs taken from the jetty at Shahporir Dwip, inside Bangladesh’s Teknaf region, show the position of the captured outpost across the Naf River. For Rohingya refugees living just a few kilometers away in Bangladesh, the view is a stark reminder of the shifting power dynamics in their homeland — and the persistent threat to their safety.
Although the Arakan Army claims to be waging a struggle for ethnic rights and autonomy within Rakhine State, testimonies from Rohingya communities on the ground tell a very different story. Since taking over large swathes of territory in northern and southern Maungdaw, the AA has been accused of severe abuses against Rohingya civilians.
New Power, Same Oppression
“We suffered under the military, and now we suffer under the Arakan Army,” said a Rohingya community elder, speaking from a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. “No matter who rules, we are always the ones being punished.”
Residents in villages near the Ma Kyay Chaung outpost have reported instances of forced displacement, arbitrary detentions, and violent intimidation. In several areas, young Rohingya men have allegedly been taken from their homes and forced into labor or interrogated without cause.
Local sources also say that the AA has prevented Rohingya families from moving freely between villages, demanding travel permissions, imposing tolls at checkpoints, and collecting money for basic movement — even for medical emergencies.
From One Fear to Another
For Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, the fall of military outposts into AA hands has not brought a sense of relief or potential return. Instead, it has deepened anxiety over what the future holds for their families still inside Myanmar.
“We can see our homeland across the water, but we cannot go back,” said a young refugee in Camp 24. “The military destroyed our homes in 2017. Now the Arakan Army controls those areas, and they treat our people like enemies. Where can we go?”
Human rights groups and Rohingya activists have called for urgent international attention, warning that the AA’s actions in Maungdaw and Buthidaung amount to collective punishment and ethnic exclusion.
Calls for International Oversight
Despite the group’s public statements promoting “inclusive Arakan,” reports from both sides of the Bangladesh–Myanmar border suggest that the AA’s vision does not include the Rohingya community in any meaningful way. Many see the recent military gains not as a pathway to justice but as a new chapter of dispossession.
Rohingya leaders are urging humanitarian actors and global institutions to closely monitor the situation and pressure all parties — state and non-state — to respect international law and protect civilian lives.
“The flag may have changed at Ma Kyay Chaung, but the pain remains the same,” said a Rohingya refugee leader. “We want peace, not just new rulers. We want to return with rights, not fear.”
