2026 — Continuing Confinement, Stronger Evidence and Further Maritime Loss

2026-08-30 — Al Jazeera Investigation “Bloodshed on the Border” Exposes Alleged Massacres, Persecution and Trafficking of Rohingya under Arakan Army Control

A major Al Jazeera Investigations documentary, “Bloodshed on the Border,” has brought renewed international attention to the grave situation facing the Rohingya in Arakan (Rakhine State), including allegations of killings, disappearances, forced displacement and trafficking as the Arakan Army (AA) has expanded its territorial control.

The investigation draws on exclusive footage, leaked documents, testimony from Rohingya survivors, evidence collected by Rohingya citizen journalists and forensic analysis. It provides an important independent platform for Rohingya accounts of what has been happening as control of large parts of northern Arakan has shifted from the Myanmar military to the Arakan Army.

Rohingya witnesses describe killings, serious injuries, disappearances and forced displacement. One refugee, Seterra Begum, described AA forces entering her village, establishing positions, trenches and a checkpoint, followed by fighting in which people were killed, seriously injured or disappeared.

The investigation also examines the trafficking and dangerous transportation of Rohingya fleeing Myanmar. Testimony includes accounts of Rohingya children, including unaccompanied minors, being forced onto boats and subjected to brutal conditions. A 14-year-old Rohingya asylum seeker described children being confined below deck and beaten when they attempted to stand or raise their heads. The investigation also reports allegations of exploitation and sexual violence against Rohingya women.

For the Rohingya, these allegations cannot be viewed simply as isolated abuses occurring during an armed conflict. They form part of a much wider and deeply alarming pattern. Rohingya communities have increasingly expressed the fear that the objective is not merely military control of the territory, but the permanent removal of the Rohingya from their ancestral homeland.

From RCN's perspective, the Arakan Army represents one of the gravest threats the Rohingya have faced in their recent history. Rohingya have endured decades of persecution by successive Myanmar governments and the military, including the atrocities of 2017. However, many Rohingya now regard the situation under AA domination as particularly dangerous because they believe the campaign against them is systematic and intended to make continued Rohingya life in Arakan impossible.

RCN believes that the pattern of alleged killings, forced displacement, restrictions, intimidation, destruction and seizure of property, together with conditions that drive desperate people into the hands of traffickers and onto dangerous sea routes, must be investigated as part of a broader effort to remove and ethnically cleanse the Rohingya population from Arakan.

For many Rohingya, therefore, the question is no longer simply who controls Arakan militarily. The fundamental question is whether the Rohingya will be permitted to survive as a people in their own ancestral homeland.

The Arakan Army declined Al Jazeera's requests for a written response or interview concerning the allegations examined in the documentary. AA leaders have previously denied deliberately targeting civilians and have rejected allegations concerning mass killings of Rohingya.

The Al Jazeera investigation is therefore significant not only because of the individual incidents it examines, but because it gives international visibility to what Rohingya survivors and communities have been warning about: changing the armed authority controlling Arakan has not brought safety to the Rohingya. Instead, they fear that a new and potentially existential phase of their persecution is unfolding.

RCN calls upon the international community, the United Nations, international human rights organisations and accountability mechanisms to independently investigate all credible allegations of atrocities against the Rohingya, including the conduct of the Arakan Army, and to ensure that those responsible for crimes against civilians are held accountable.

Source: Al Jazeera Investigations, Bloodshed on the Border, as reported by Qatar Tribune, 30 August 2026.

Source: BLOODSHED ON THE BORDER

2026-08-11 — August 2026 — New reporting revisits the 5 August 2024 Naf River massacre

The Bay of Bengal Post has revisited the 5 August 2024 attacks on Rohingya civilians near the Naf River in Maungdaw, an episode that has become one of the most serious allegations of mass violence against Rohingya attributed to the Arakan Army (AA). Earlier reporting by the outlet described thousands of Rohingya fleeing toward the Bangladesh border as drone and artillery attacks struck civilians, with at least 200 people reportedly killed.

The account is consistent with a wider body of reporting and survivor testimony concerning the events of 5 August. Amnesty International documented testimony from Rohingya survivors who described drone attacks as families fled toward the Naf River, including accounts of multiple family members being killed. A UK government country-information review, drawing on UN reporting, records that approximately 180 people were reportedly killed following drone strikes and shelling on civilians fleeing Maungdaw and notes Rohingya eyewitness accounts that drones appeared to come from the direction of AA positions.

Rohingya organizations have described the incident as the Naf River Massacre, alleging that at least 200 Rohingya civilians, many of them women and children were killed while seeking safety near the Bangladesh border. The AA has denied allegations that it deliberately attacked Rohingya civilians.

Source: Source: Bay of Bengal Post — August 5 Massacre report