For the stateless Rohingya people of Myanmar, the past three months, from March to June 2025, have unfolded as yet another harrowing chapter in their long history of persecution. Trapped between the brutal grip of the ruling military junta, known as the Tatmadaw, and the escalating conflict with the ethnic armed group, the Arakan Army (AA), Rohingya communities have endured a relentless onslaught of violence, forced conscription, and deliberate starvation. The world watches, often in silence, as their lives are systematically dismantled, their hopes for safety and dignity fading with each passing day.
The Iron Grip of Conscription: Forced into a War Not Their Own
The military junta has intensified its abhorrent practice of forced conscription, dragging Rohingya men and even young boys, some as young as 12, into their ranks. This is a cruel irony, as Myanmar’s own laws deny citizenship to the Rohingya, yet the military compels them to fight in a war that is not theirs to begin with.1 These unwilling recruits are often given little to no training before being thrown onto the front lines, where dozens have been killed or severely injured.
The story of 19-year-old Dawood, a Rohingya refugee, echoes countless others. Conscripted in February 2024, he was injured and spent a month in hospital, only to be redeployed to the battlefield in May 2025. The military’s tactics are chillingly coercive: they abduct young men, detain family members as hostages, and even falsify ages to meet their quotas. This desperate need for manpower, fueled by territorial losses, has seen the military disproportionately target the urban poor, displaced individuals, and ethnic minorities like the Rohingya.
In a rare move, the International Labour Organization (ILO) in June 2025 invoked Article 33 of its constitution, condemning Myanmar’s failure to halt forced recruitment, including that of children. This highlights the junta’s blatant disregard for international law and the fundamental rights of its people. Disturbingly, some Rohingya armed groups have reportedly collaborated with the military, abducting refugees from camps in Bangladesh for forced service, further entangling the community in a web of exploitation.
A Weapon of Hunger: Aid Blockades and Deliberate Starvation
Beyond the battlefield, the military junta has wielded starvation as a weapon, deliberately obstructing life-saving humanitarian aid to Rohingya communities across Rakhine State. They have even resorted to threatening UN and international aid agency staff to prevent them from revealing the true scale of the food crisis. This calculated cruelty directly violates UN Security Council resolutions and the International Court of Justice’s orders to protect the Rohingya.
A recent report by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK) starkly states that Rohingya in Rakhine State are “deliberately starving to death” due to the military’s “genocidal policies”. The impact is devastating: 145,000 Rohingya confined to internment camps, entirely dependent on external aid, face a dire future. This year alone, 25 Rohingya adults in Pauktaw township have reportedly died from starvation, with another seven succumbing to a lack of medical care. By late April 2025, up to 70 percent of Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDPs) in some Sittwe camps were facing starvation.
A critical funding shortfall exacerbates the situation. In March 2025, the World Food Programme announced it would be forced to cut life-saving food assistance due to a $60 million deficit. For Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, the suffering has been prolonged, enduring an 18-month trade and aid blockade imposed by the regime since November 2023. New arrivals in Bangladesh bear visible signs of severe malnutrition, a testament to the horrors they have escaped.
Scorched Earth and Civilian Bloodshed
The military junta has escalated its “scorched earth” tactics, responding to growing armed resistance with indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on civilians and their infrastructure. Schools, hospitals, and religious sites, meant to be sanctuaries, have become targets of airstrikes and artillery attacks.
A particularly horrific incident unfolded on May 29, 2025, in Byain Phyu, central Rakhine State. Soldiers rounded up hundreds of villagers, separating men and women. What followed was a brutal interrogation, torture, and shootings, leaving between 48 and 76 villagers dead, including five women who were also raped. This atrocity underscores the military’s willingness to use sexual violence as a weapon of war.
The chaos caused by a devastating earthquake in March 2025 was cynically exploited by the military, who used the turmoil to intensify attacks on civilians while further restricting humanitarian access. Civilians in conflict-affected areas live in constant fear of fighting, arbitrary arrest, and torture by security forces. Local observers estimate that hundreds are dead or missing from the relentless shelling and gunfire that have forced Rohingya from their homes.
The Perilous Flight: A Desperate Exodus
The escalating violence has triggered new waves of displacement, both within Rakhine State and across its borders. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh in recent months, joining the million already living in overcrowded refugee camps. The Bangladesh government, already strained, has stated its inability to support these new arrivals, a challenge compounded by cuts in international humanitarian funding.
United Nations rights experts have unequivocally stated that it is unsafe for Rohingya to return to Myanmar. The ongoing conflict, coupled with the risk of ethnic persecution from both the military and the Arakan Army, leaves them with no haven.
A Culture of Impunity
The military junta has long relied on a culture of impunity, using state-controlled media and social media platforms like Facebook to spread disinformation and sow hatred against ethnic and religious minorities, including the Rohingya. They routinely deny their atrocities, dismissing credible reports as “disinformation”.
Despite mounting evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, accountability remains elusive. While the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor’s Office requested an arrest warrant for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in November 2024 for 2017 crimes against the Rohingya, the broader cycle of impunity continues to fuel the military’s abuses. The UN Human Rights Council has discussed Myanmar’s situation, calling for an end to the cycle of impunity, yet concrete, decisive action remains tragically slow.
Conclusion: A Call for Conscience
The period from March to June 2025 paints a grim picture of the Myanmar military junta’s relentless persecution of the Rohingya. Their tactics of forced conscription, deliberate starvation, and direct attacks on civilians are not random acts of violence but components of a systematic campaign that mirrors, and in some cases intensifies, the horrors of the past.
The Rohingya are caught in an impossible bind, facing existential threats from multiple directions. The international community’s response, though marked by condemnation and calls for justice, has yet to translate into the decisive action needed to halt these atrocities and ensure the safety and dignity of a people on the brink. Without urgent, coordinated, and robust intervention, the suffering of the Rohingya will continue, a stain on the conscience of the world.
We utilized news reports from the following websites to prepare this report:
- The Irrawaddy
- Mizzima
- Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)
- Al Jazeera
- Amnesty International
- Human Rights Watch (HRW)
- NDTV
- The Daily Star
- Channel News Asia (CNA)
- Voice of America (VOA)
- Radio Free Asia (RFA)
