25 August 2017: the beginning of a new catastrophe

On 25 August 2017, the Myanmar military launched a campaign across Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung after attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on security posts. The military response was not limited to armed individuals; it rapidly became widespread violence against the entire Rohingya civilian population.

The campaign followed decades of discrimination, statelessness, movement restrictions, hate propaganda and recurring violence. The 1982 Citizenship Law, segregation after 2012 and systematic denial of Rohingya identity and political rights had already removed essential legal protection.

A military campaign against entire communities

Myanmar military forces, border police and allied local forces attacked Rohingya villages with extreme brutality. Villages were surrounded and burned, civilians were shot, women and girls were subjected to sexual violence, and families were forced to flee through forests, mountains and rivers towards Bangladesh.

The attacks destroyed homes, mosques, schools, shops, farmland and generations of village history. For the Rohingya, this was experienced as a coordinated campaign to remove them from their ancestral homeland.

Documented abuses and destroyed villages

The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières and other organisations documented killings, mass rape, torture, arbitrary arrests, village burnings and destruction of religious and civilian property.

Satellite imagery showed systematic fires and the removal of Rohingya settlements. The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar has also identified destruction and dispossession of Rohingya property as important evidence for future accountability.

UN findings and genocide investigations

UN investigators concluded that Myanmar’s senior military leaders should be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. They described systematic and targeted conduct within a longer pattern of hatred, discrimination and persecution.

The 2017 violence was therefore not an isolated event. Rohingya were first rendered stateless, then segregated and stripped of political rights, before being driven out through mass violence.

Mass flight to Bangladesh

Within months, more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh. Together with refugees from earlier waves, the Rohingya population in Bangladesh eventually exceeded one million. Bangladesh received them mainly in Cox’s Bazar, where Kutupalong and Balukhali became the world’s largest refugee settlement.

Many arrived without documents or possessions and with profound trauma. Families had lost parents, children, spouses and siblings, while their villages burned behind them.

Testimony of massacres, rape and loss

Survivors described soldiers shooting fleeing civilians, killing children, raping women and girls, and burning entire villages after forcing residents out. Médecins Sans Frontières estimated that several thousand Rohingya, including many children, were killed during the first month.

For the Rohingya, 2017 was genocide and a national catastrophe. Homes, land, documents, relatives, religious sites and village histories were lost, making safe, voluntary and dignified return extremely difficult.

Justice and accountability

The international response led to proceedings before the International Court of Justice, investigations by the International Criminal Court and evidence collection by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. The Gambia brought Myanmar before the ICJ under the Genocide Convention.

Most victims have still not received justice. Accountability must include criminal justice, reparations, restoration of property, safe return, political recognition, citizenship and full restoration of Rohingya rights.

For the Rohingya people, 2017 symbolises the loss of homeland and thousands of lives, but also the continuing struggle for justice, citizenship and safe return to Arakan. This history must be preserved and used to demand accountability, recognition, restored citizenship, return to original villages and protection against repetition.