Rohingya 13 GENOCIDE DAY Arakan Army Aids in Completing Myanmar Military's Unfinished Business BY NAY SAN LWIN A CO-FOUNDER OF THE FREE ROHINGYA COALITION AND AN EXECUTIVE MEMBER OF THE ARAKAN ROHINGYA NATIONAL ALLIANCE (ARNA). The genocide of the Rohingya has persisted for nearly five decades, following a long-term plan by the late dictator Ne Win to cleanse the Rohingya population from Arakan (Rakhine State) in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). The world has witnessed brutal killings and displacements of the Rohingya in 1978, 1991/92, 2012, 2016, and 2017. Following the massive violence in 2017, The Gambia filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The International Criminal Court (ICC) is still investigating the forced deportation case, and the case filed by the Burmese Rohingya Organisation (UK) is expected to conclude soon. Despite an ICJ order to protect the Rohingya in Myanmar, both the state actor, the Myanmar military, and the non-state actor, the Arakan Army (AA), have violated and continue to violate these provisional measures. The current situation for the Rohingya in Northern Rakhine State is far worse than in 2017. Since 2019, the Arakan Army (AA) has committed numerous human rights violations against the Rohingya in the region. However, the Rohingya remained silent for the sake of peaceful coexistence. The AA has been fighting against the military in Arakan since late 2018, with intermittent ceasefires. However, the fighting has been continuous since November of last year, with the AA advancing its territories. Initially, AA leadership expressed some commitment to the Rohingya issue, stating that they would respect Rohingya human rights. This led the Rohingya to believe the AA wouldn’t be as brutal as the Myanmar military. However, this hope has proven to be unfounded. Since the end of March this year, the Arakan Army has advanced in Buthidaung Township, forcing the Rohingya in rural areas to flee their homes. AA soldiers then looted the houses and burned the villages, carrying out significant massacres across the township. The most horrific massacre occurred on May 2, 2024, in Htan Shauk Khan (known to the Rohingya as Hoinya Siri ) , where nearly 600 villagers, including children, women, and the elderly, were brutally killed in a single day.