By: Camp Correspondent
Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State — May 20, 2025
The Arakan Army (AA) has begun systematically resettling Rakhine families into former Rohingya villages in Buthidaung Township, following the forced eviction of Rohingya residents, according to multiple displaced individuals and local observers.
In Shar Barzar village—locally known as Maung Gyi Taung—Rohingya residents report that the entire community was driven out, and 135 Rakhine families from Thandwe and Rathedaung were brought in to take their place.
“They forced our people out and brought in outsiders to replace us,” said a displaced man from Shar Barzar.
“Our village existed long before 1905. Now it’s been handed over like we never lived here.”
A similar pattern has been reported in Tat Min Chaung, where, according to a Rohingya resident, the AA resettled 80 Rakhine families last week. Residents were allegedly given an ultimatum: leave voluntarily or face violence.
“We had no choice. They told us to go, or we would be hurt,” the resident said.
Sources from northern Buthidaung describe this as part of a broader, coordinated effort to erase the Rohingya presence across the township.
“In just a few months, more than 30 Rohingya villages have been emptied. This is not random—it’s organized,” said one local elder.
“We are being erased from our own land.”
Villages like Shar Barzar were once home to over 1,000 Rohingya families, many of whom survived the 2017 military-led genocide only to face renewed displacement under AA control in 2024 and 2025.
There are also reports that the AA plans to bring back Rakhine Bengalis from Bangladesh to settle in these cleared areas—many of whom had previously migrated decades ago.
The resettlements are unfolding amid intensified conflict across Rakhine State, with mass displacement, restricted humanitarian access, and widespread human rights violations reported by international monitors.
“They are not just displacing us—they are rewriting the map,” said one displaced Rohingya teacher.
“If this continues, we will have nowhere left—not even a name on the land where our ancestors lived.”
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