2012
Violence in Arakan and internal displacement
In 2012, Arakan was again struck by widespread violence with catastrophic consequences for the Rohingya population. The violence began in June after a local criminal case was rapidly exploited by nationalist forces to spread hatred and suspicion against Rohingya Muslims. What was initially portrayed as spontaneous intercommunal violence gradually developed into a broader and more targeted campaign against Rohingya and other Muslim communities in Arakan.
Rohingya villages, neighbourhoods, mosques, shops and homes were attacked and burned. Many people were killed, injured or forced to flee. The consequences were especially severe in Akyab, now known as Sittwe. Before 2012, Rohingya and other Muslims had lived in several parts of the city, traded, worked and participated in its social and economic life. After the attacks, much of the Muslim population was removed from the city. Many Rohingya therefore believe the violence was not merely a spontaneous outbreak of hatred, but a carefully planned and politically supported campaign to rid Akyab of Rohingya.
The result was a dramatic change in the city’s demography. Muslim neighbourhoods were destroyed and most Rohingya were driven into camps outside the city. Aung Mingalar remained Sittwe’s last Muslim quarter, but it too was effectively isolated and surrounded. Residents faced severe movement restrictions, food shortages, limited access to health care and constant fear of renewed attacks.
After the violence, an estimated 125,000 to 140,000 people were internally displaced, most of them Rohingya and other Muslims. Many were placed in IDP camps around Sittwe, Pauktaw, Myebon, Kyaukphyu and other parts of central Rakhine. Initially described as temporary solutions, the camps rapidly developed into long-term places of internment. Rohingya were not allowed to return to their homes even when their houses, plots and property were still identifiable. Instead, military checkpoints, travel restrictions and a system denying them a normal life kept them separated from the rest of the population.
Conditions in the IDP camps have been inhumane. Rohingya lost access to work, commerce, education, health care and freedom of movement. Many children grew up without ordinary schooling. Sick people could not travel freely to hospitals without permission, and many families became wholly dependent on humanitarian assistance for survival. Camps often lacked sufficient food, clean water, sanitation, safe housing and medical treatment. For many Rohingya, the camps were not places of protection but open prisons.
More than a decade later, the consequences of the 2012 violence remain unresolved. Tens of thousands of Rohingya still live in IDP camps and camp-like areas in Rakhine under extremely difficult conditions. They still lack full freedom of movement, citizenship, the right to return to their original homes and effective protection against discrimination. Many families displaced in 2012 remain in temporary and degrading conditions, while a new generation of children has been born and raised in internment.
The 2012 violence was therefore a turning point in modern Rohingya history. It caused not only killings, destruction and displacement but also an enduring policy of segregation and internment. For Rohingya, it began a new phase of persecution in which they were deprived not only of their homes but also of the right to live as free people in their own country.