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The Arakan Army Seeks International Recognition While Denying Recognition to the Rohingya
Misbah Mushorof On 26 March 2024, Arakan Army Commander-in-Chief Twan Mrat Naing wrote on X:“Nothing is wrong with calling Bengalis ‘Bengalis.’ They have been our neighbours, our friends and fellow citizens for centuries. Let’s be honest and embrace this reality to build a better future.”This post was not a small language issue. It was a political message. It told the Rohingya that the Arakan Army and its political wing, the UnitedLeague of Arakan, do not recognise us by the name we use for ourselves. The word “Bengali” has a dangerous political meaning in Myanmar. For decades, the Myanmar military and anti-Rohingya nationalists used it to describe the Rohingya as foreigners from Bangladesh. This label helped them deny our citizenship, history and belonging in Arakan. Twan Mrat Naing knows this history. The ULA knows it too. Therefore, his statement cannot be treated as an innocent choice of words. It continues the same political idea that was used to remove the Rohingya from their homeland. The Rohingya are not asking the Arakan Army to invent a new identity for us. Our identity already exists. We have called ourselves Rohingya for generations. Historical records, official documents and political participation after Myanmar’s independence also show the use of the Rohingya name. The right to self-identify is basic. The Arakan Army cannot demand respect for Rakhine identity while refusing the same respect to the Rohingya. This is the biggest contradiction in the Arakan Army’s political campaign. The AA and ULA want international recognition. They want neighbouring countries, foreign investors, international organisations and the media to treat them as the new authority in Rakhine State. They speak about administration, security, trade, ports, pipelines and development. They promise to protect foreign businesses and international projects. But they do not give the same clear promise to the Rohingya people living in the land they control. How can they ask the world to recognise their authority while they deny recognition to one of Arakan’s own communities? The ULA may show photographs of reopened mosques, Muslim religious events or a few Muslim officials. But these photographs do not prove equality. A mosque can be opened while a people’s identity is still denied. A ceremony can be allowed while movement, work, education and land rights remain restricted. Real recognition means more than allowing worship. It means calling us by our name. It means accepting that Rohingya belong to Arakan. It means citizenship, freedom of movement, access to healthcare and education, protection of property and equal participation in public life. Reports from areas under Arakan Army control raise serious concerns. Human Rights Watch reported movement restrictions, arbitrary detention, forced labour, unlawful recruitment and seizure of property affecting Rohingya communities. Refugees also said they could not freely travel, farm, fish or work.These reports are painful because they look very similar to the old system created by the Myanmar military. The most serious allegation concerns Hoyyar Siri village. Human Rights Watch reported evidence that Arakan Army fighters may have killed at least 170 Rohingya men, women and children there on 2 May 2024. The ULA denied responsibility. Its denial should be reported. But a denial cannot close a case involving the possible killing of so many civilians. If the Arakan Army believes the allegation is false, it should allow independent investigators into the area. It should protect witnesses, provide information about missing and detained people, preserve evidence and punish any fighter or commander responsible for crimes. The AA and ULA cannot investigate themselves and then ask the world to accept their answer. This issue is not only about individual soldiers. It starts with the leadership. When Twan Mrat Naing publicly says that nothing is wrong with calling the Rohingya “Bengali,” he gives permission to officials, fighters and supporters to treat Rohingya identity as false. First, a community’s name is denied. Then its history is questioned. After that, its movement, work and land are controlled. Finally, the whole population is treated as a security threat. This is the same road followed by the Myanmar military. The Arakan Army may fight the junta, but fighting a brutal enemy does not automatically make it a just movement. A force cannot call itself a liberation army while using the language and politics of persecution against another people. The suffering of the Rakhine people under Myanmar military rule is real. They have the right to freedom, dignity and political power. But Rakhine freedom cannot be built on Rohingya exclusion. Freedom for one community cannot mean silence, fear and statelessness for another. China, India, Bangladesh and other international actors may need practical contact with the Arakan Army because it controls important territory. But territorial control is not the same as legitimacy. Any engagement with the AA and ULA should include firm conditions: recognition of the Rohingya identity, freedom of movement, protection of land and homes, an end to forced labour and forced recruitment, full humanitarian access and independent investigations into alleged crimes. The international community should not reward the Arakan Army only because it defeated junta forces. Military success is not proof of justice. The real test is how it treats civilians, especially a community that has already survived decades of persecution and genocide. Twan Mrat Naing’s X post made the problem clear. The Arakan Army wants the world to recognise its name, authority and political future. But it refuses to recognise the Rohingya by our own name.Recognition cannot work in only one direction. Until the AA and ULA recognise the Rohingya as an equal people of Arakan and answer serious allegations of abuse, their demand for international legitimacy should be treated with great caution.A new flag does not create a new political future if the old hatred continues beneath it. ABOUT THE AUTHORMisbah Mushorof is the Executive Director of the Rohingya Crisis Research Institute (RCRI). He is a Rohingya genocide survivor and human rights defender based in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.This commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of Mizzima Media. The post The Arakan Army Seeks International Recognition While Denying Recognition to the Rohingya appeared first on ENG.MIZZIMA.COM.
Misbah Mushorof On 26 March 2024, Arakan Army Commander-in-Chief Twan Mrat Naing wrote on X:“Nothing is wrong with calling Bengalis ‘Bengalis.’ They have been our neighbours, our friends and fellow citizens for centuries. Let’s be honest and embrace this reality to build a better future.”This post was not a small language issue. It was a political message. It told the Rohingya that the Arakan Army and its political wing, the UnitedLeague of Arakan, do not recognise us by the name we use for ourselves. The word “Bengali” has a dangerous political meaning in Myanmar. For decades, the Myanmar military and anti-Rohingya nationalists used it to describe the Rohingya as foreigners from Bangladesh. This label helped them deny our citizenship, history and belonging in Arakan. Twan Mrat Naing knows this history. The ULA knows it too. Therefore, his statement cannot be treated as an innocent choice of words. It continues the same political idea that was used to remove the Rohingya from their homeland. The Rohingya are not asking the Arakan Army to invent a new identity for us. Our identity already exists. We have called ourselves Rohingya for generations. Historical records, official documents and political participation after Myanmar’s independence also show the use of the Rohingya name. The right to self-identify is basic. The Arakan Army cannot demand respect for Rakhine identity while refusing the same respect to the Rohingya. This is the biggest contradiction in the Arakan Army’s political campaign. The AA and ULA want international recognition. They want neighbouring countries, foreign investors, international organisations and the media to treat them as the new authority in Rakhine State. They speak about administration, security, trade, ports, pipelines and development. They promise to protect foreign businesses and international projects. But they do not give the same clear promise to the Rohingya people living in the land they control. How can they ask the world to recognise their authority while they deny recognition to one of Arakan’s own communities? The ULA may show photographs of reopened mosques, Muslim religious events or a few Muslim officials. But these photographs do not prove equality. A mosque can be opened while a people’s identity is still denied. A ceremony can be allowed while movement, work, education and land rights remain restricted. Real recognition means more than allowing worship. It means calling us by our name. It means accepting that Rohingya belong to Arakan. It means citizenship, freedom of movement, access to healthcare and education, protection of property and equal participation in public life. Reports from areas under Arakan Army control raise serious concerns. Human Rights Watch reported movement restrictions, arbitrary detention, forced labour, unlawful recruitment and seizure of property affecting Rohingya communities. Refugees also said they could not freely travel, farm, fish or work.These reports are painful because they look very similar to the old system created by the Myanmar military. The most serious allegation concerns Hoyyar Siri village. Human Rights Watch reported evidence that Arakan Army fighters may have killed at least 170 Rohingya men, women and children there on 2 May 2024. The ULA denied responsibility. Its denial should be reported. But a denial cannot close a case involving the possible killing of so many civilians. If the Arakan Army believes the allegation is false, it should allow independent investigators into the area. It should protect witnesses, provide information about missing and detained people, preserve evidence and punish any fighter or commander responsible for crimes. The AA and ULA cannot investigate themselves and then ask the world to accept their answer. This issue is not only about individual soldiers. It starts with the leadership. When Twan Mrat Naing publicly says that nothing is wrong with calling the Rohingya “Bengali,” he gives permission to officials, fighters and supporters to treat Rohingya identity as false. First, a community’s name is denied. Then its history is questioned. After that, its movement, work and land are controlled. Finally, the whole population is treated as a security threat. This is the same road followed by the Myanmar military. The Arakan Army may fight the junta, but fighting a brutal enemy does not automatically make it a just movement. A force cannot call itself a liberation army while using the language and politics of persecution against another people. The suffering of the Rakhine people under Myanmar military rule is real. They have the right to freedom, dignity and political power. But Rakhine freedom cannot be built on Rohingya exclusion. Freedom for one community cannot mean silence, fear and statelessness for another. China, India, Bangladesh and other international actors may need practical contact with the Arakan Army because it controls important territory. But territorial control is not the same as legitimacy. Any engagement with the AA and ULA should include firm conditions: recognition of the Rohingya identity, freedom of movement, protection of land and homes, an end to forced labour and forced recruitment, full humanitarian access and independent investigations into alleged crimes. The international community should not reward the Arakan Army only because it defeated junta forces. Military success is not proof of justice. The real test is how it treats civilians, especially a community that has already survived decades of persecution and genocide. Twan Mrat Naing’s X post made the problem clear. The Arakan Army wants the world to recognise its name, authority and political future. But it refuses to recognise the Rohingya by our own name.Recognition cannot work in only one direction. Until the AA and ULA recognise the Rohingya as an equal people of Arakan and answer serious allegations of abuse, their demand for international legitimacy should be treated with great caution.A new flag does not create a new political future if the old hatred continues beneath it. ABOUT THE AUTHORMisbah Mushorof is the Executive Director of the Rohingya Crisis Research Institute (RCRI). He is a Rohingya genocide survivor and human rights defender based in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.This commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of Mizzima Media. The post The Arakan Army Seeks International Recognition While Denying Recognition to the Rohingya appeared first on ENG.MIZZIMA.COM.
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