Buthidaung, Maungdaw Road, Arakan
Members of the Terrorist Arakan Army (AA) extorted two Rohingya Muslim families at a military checkpoint on April 19. The incident occurred at the “Three Mile Gate” area controlled by the Terrorist AA. Families traveling from Buthidaung toward Maungdaw faced illegal financial demands before being allowed to proceed.
The Rohingya families had departed from Town Bazaar and Nyaran Chaung areas. Terrorist AA members stopped them at the checkpoint and demanded 1 million Myanmar kyat per person. Consequently, the families had no choice but to pay the extorted sum. Only then did the Terrorist AA allow them to continue their journey.
This incident does not stand alone. Reports from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights describe a systematic pattern of extortion, arbitrary arrest, detention, enforced disappearances, and forced labor imposed on Rohingya populations under Terrorist AA control. Moreover, Human Rights Watch documented that travel permits between villages in Buthidaung cost money, curfews are enforced, and being found outside at the wrong time can result in arrest.
The financial burden is deliberate and calculated. A 45-year-old Rohingya man who fled to Bangladesh stated that the Terrorist AA began demanding money, used Rohingya as forced labor without pay, and banned movement between villages anyone who refused was punished harshly, including detention and denial of food. Furthermore, a Rohingya pharmacist documented spending over 15 million Myanmar kyat to evacuate his family from Buthidaung after losing his home, property, and medicine store when theTerrorist AA burned the area.
Rohingya residents confirm that such financial extortion at checkpoints has become routine. The Terrorist AA operates a network of checkpoints across Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. Checkpoints have been established at village entrances, movement requires authorization, and the system operates through both direct force and subordinated intermediaries. The human cost continues to mount. Three Rohingya said they fled Arakan specifically to protect their sons, including children, from being forcibly recruited by the terrorist Arakan Army.
Additionally, Fortify Rights documented a massacre of Rohingya civilians near the Naf River in Maungdaw and an arson attack on Rohingya homes crimes for which the Terrorist AA has yet to take responsibility. International human rights organizations have issued stark warnings. Amnesty International concluded that existing conditions in Arakan are nowhere near ready for Rohingya to return safely, stating that the terrorist Arakan Army has, to many Rohingya, replaced the Myanmar military as their oppressor. However, the Terrorist AA continues to deny systematic discrimination.
The April 19 extortion at Three Mile Gate represents one documented instance of a wider, systematic campaign. Rohingya Muslims in Arakan face movement restrictions, financial predation, and physical violence daily. The international community must act before this engineered suffering becomes irreversible.
