Nearly 200 revolutionary groups and civil society organizations have called on the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed organization that has gained control of over half of the towns in Rakhine, to protect all civilians in the state amid accusations that its troops burned Rohingya houses in Buthidaung and persecuted the community during its successful offensive to capture the town.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the 195 signatories said that despite the AA leadership’s promises not to engage in extrajudicial killings or arrests of Rohingya people, AA soldiers have committed such abuses on the ground.
They cited reports of massacres, arrests and killings of Rohingya people in Thankyaukkhe and Ywetnyotaung villages in Buthidaung, and Thayetoak Village in northern Maungdaw, in April and May. AA troops also reportedly burned down and destroyed Rohingya civilians’ houses in Buthidaung town on the night of May 17, the organizations said, describing the incident as a “war crime and a crime against humanity”.
The AA claimed to have seized Buthidaung on May 18 after overrunning the remaining junta bases in the town, marking the latest in a series of victories against the military regime.

The ethnic armed organization has rejected the allegations of abuses as groundless and claimed the houses caught fire due to a junta aerial attack late on May 17.
The group also said it “strictly adheres to its principle of fighting under the military code of conduct and never targets non-military objects”. Furthermore, it said, it has been helping people evacuate to safer areas.
The AA condemned the allegations as “disinformation” aimed at destroying the “unity, social harmony and cooperation” between communities in the state in favor of the regime’s “propaganda of inciting racial and religious violence”.
In Wednesday’s joint statement the 195 signatory groups urged the AA to carry out internal investigations of the alleged incidents and to take action against the perpetrators if there were violations.
The signatories said the military junta has consistently oppressed and committed torture, killings, genocide, and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya. Currently, under the newly activated conscription law, the military junta is abducting Rohingya people, taking them to the front lines and using them as human shields and soldiers to perpetrate violence on its behalf—including burning more than 200 homes of Rakhine people in Buthidaung, they said.
In addition, they claimed, the junta forced Rohingya people residing in internally displaced persons camps in Buthidaung and Sittwe to join protests against the AA. They accused the regime of promoting public misperceptions of Rohingya people in order to inflame ethnic conflict.

Over 700,000 Rohingya fled Rakhine State for neighboring Bangladesh in 2017, after the military launched a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in the region. Those who fled said the Rohingya were subjected to extrajudicial killings, rapes and arson attacks by security forces. UN investigators said the operation had “genocidal intent”.
“The safety of all people in Rakhine is of grave concern during the intense fighting between the terrorist military junta and the AA. The oppressed and exploited Rohingya need protection, and it is crucial that another genocide is prevented,” the groups said in Wednesday’s statement.
They said it is important to note that, as with other ethnic groups, there are some Rohingya who are “collaborating with the terrorist Myanmar military junta for their own self-interest”, but at the same time, there are many who oppose the military dictatorship.
They also urged the public to recognize that Rohingya armed groups, such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA) and Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO)—which are collaborating with the junta—do not represent all Rohingya.
“We absolutely condemn and oppose any ethnic armed groups, including Rohingya armed groups, that are collaborating with the terrorist military junta and abusing the public,” the groups said.
They urged AA and Rohingya leaders to engage in dialogue and hold consultations as soon as possible.
Rohingya groups urge action
Wednesday’s statement followed the issuing of a statement a day earlier by 28 Rohingya organizations calling on the international community to immediately put pressure on the AA to end “mass forced displacement and human rights violations” against Rohingya communities in Rakhine and to uphold international humanitarian law.

They also called for engagement with the AA to ensure the safe and unrestricted delivery of international humanitarian assistance to all communities, including the Rohingya, in the areas of Rakhine State under its control.
The groups—which included the Free Rohingya Coalition, Burmese Rohingya Organization UK, and other groups representing Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim refugees from Rakhine State—said international humanitarian assistance is urgently needed as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya are fleeing for their lives.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya are internally displaced in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, they stated.
Rohingya organizations also proposed a dialogue process including all ethnic and religious communities in Rakhine State.
“We call for urgent dialogue with the AA to protect Rohingya civilians and resolve the current crisis,” the groups stated.
The AA said in a statement issued on Monday that it sought “truth and justice”, denounced all forms of terror and atrocities, and was ready to work with any “unbiased” organizations to achieve those goals.
“We are also ready to cooperate with the international anti-terrorism groups to participate in combating against all forms of terrorism,” it said.