9th Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day: A Call for Justice and Accountability: WPN

Mizzima

The Women’s Peace Network has just published a call for justice and accountability on the ninth anniversary of Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day.

The following is their statement:

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the 2017 genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine State. This Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day stands as a crucial moment to not only look back at the atrocities that have occurred against the Rohingya in the past, but also a persecution that has continued since. As the conflict between the Arakan Army and Burmese military junta continues to rage, the Rohingya face a nexus of atrocities perpetrated by both sides.

Reminiscent of the Burmese Army’s genocidal campaign in 2017, the Arakan Army has targeted Rohingya populated areas in Rakhine State since 2024. Rohingya in these areas have been subjected to grave atrocities including arson attacks, forced transfer and demographic change, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, forced labor and recruitment, sexual and gender-based violence, along with massacres of hundreds of Rohingya. At the same time, the Junta commits atrocity crimes against the Rohingya during what they maintain are defensive actions against the enemy. Like the Arakan Army, these crimes constitute rape, looting, forced displacement, mass-killings, and forced recruitment. The Junta also maintains apartheid like conditions in Sittwe and other junta-controlled territories. Both sides’ actions appear to be part of an effort at erasing the identity of the Rohingya: physically, socially, and culturally.