Thousands Of Rohingya Residents Are Worried About Being Caught In Fighting In West Myanmar

Refugees in Kwala Langkat Village, Tanjung Pura District, Langkat Regency, North Sumatra. (HO-Polres Langkat)

JAKARTA - Tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslim minorities are feared to be caught in fighting in western Myanmar, when armed ethnic groups strongly attack the junta's position in a coastal town on the country's border with Bangladesh. The Arakan Army (AA), which is fighting for autonomy for the Rakhine Myanmar region, said residents of the city of Maungdaw, mostly inhabited by Rohingya, had to leave at 9 p.m. before the planned attack on the settlement. The AA attack on Maungdaw was the latest in months-long rebel attacks on Myanmar's junta, which took power in the February 2021 coup, and now finds itself in an increasingly weak position in most countries. "We will attack the remaining junta posts", AA said in a statement, asking residents to stay away from military positions in Maungdaw for their own safety. A junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment. About 70,000 Rohingya residents who are currently in Maungdaw are trapped as the fighting draws near, said Aung Kyaw Moe, deputy human rights minister at The government of Myanmar's shadow National Unity. "They have no place to run," he told Reuters. Thousands of Rohingyas fled to neighboring Bangladesh last month, seeking safety from escalating conflict, although the neighboring country was reluctant to accept more refugees. Their movement was triggered by fighting inside and around the city of Buthidaung, about 25 km (15 miles) east of Maungdaw, which AA captured after heavy fighting in which rebel groups were accused of targeting the Rohingya community.

AA denies the allegations. Rohingya has faced persecution in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar for decades. Nearly one million of them lived in refugee camps in Bangladesh's border district in Cox's Bazar after fleeing a military-led crackdown in Rakhine in 2017.