In December 2024, the military council in Myanmar, in collaboration with Rakhine extremists, converted the site of a mosque into a sports field in Padalik Cheik Ward, Sittwe City, Rakhine State. This mosque, located on the main road, was burned down during the violence in 2012. Despite the site remaining vacant for years, permission to rebuild the mosque was denied.
During the 2012 violence, nearly all mosques in Sittwe City were destroyed or set on fire. Many of these lands have since been repurposed for business activities, reportedly controlled by Rakhine residents. According to local sources, Rakhine political parties and the Myanmar military government are systematically confiscating religious lands, erasing the physical presence of religious structures in the process.
Additionally, concerns are mounting among Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sittwe. Approximately 4,000 Rohingya from local IDP camps were recently summoned through Village Administrators and the Camp Management Committee for conscription within a month. The prospect of enforced conscription has left many families anxious, with some individuals considering fleeing to evade the law.
This continued targeting of religious and cultural spaces, coupled with forced conscription, highlights the ongoing persecution faced by the Rohingya community in Rakhine State.
