6. Oral History as Data Sovereignty: Roots of Arakan 6.1 Project Overview and CARE Principles Application Roots of Arakan is a multiethnic oral history and dialogue initiative documenting lived experiences of Rohingya, Rakhine, Mro, Hindu, and other Araknese communities. Its methodology applies the CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance — Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics (Carroll et al., 2020) ��� positioning the Rohingya community as the primary collector, custodian, and interpreter of its own historical data. This is data sovereignty operationalized: a stateless people asserting control over the narrative of their own existence. 6.2 Archive Statistical Analysis — Table 8 and Figure 6 Table 8 presents thematic analysis of 50+ testimonies in the Roots of Arakan archive; Figure 6 visualizes the distribution. Three patterns have direct analytical and policy implications. Table 8: Roots of Arakan Archive — Thematic Analysis (N=50+, August 2026) Theme Category Testimonies (%) Key Sub-Themes Analytical Significance Aspirations for Return and Justice 91% Citizenship restoration; land return; accountability; safety Contradicts assumption that refugees prefer resettlement over return Memory of Pre-Genocide Arakan 87% Village life; coexistence; livelihoods; cultural practices Counter-archive against narrative of Rohingya non-belonging Experiences of 2016-2017 Violence 78% Specific dates, locations, perpetrators; family separation; flight Evidentiary record for transitional justice processes Experience of Statelessness (pre-2017) 72% Checkpoints; document denial; employment and school exclusion Documents structural violence preceding the genocide Life in Cox's Bazar Displacement 68% Camp conditions; aspirations; community organization; mental health Community perspective on displacement experience Rohingya-Rakhine Relations 45% Historical coexistence; causes of division; paths to reconciliation Foundation for intercommunal dialogue programming Women's Specific Experiences 38% GBV; mobility restrictions; education exclusion; leadership aspirations Gender dimension of statelessness and structural violence Youth Perspectives and Identity 31% Belonging; education; future visions; intergenerational memory Intergenerational transmission of identity and rights claims Note: Two independent reviewers; inter-rater reliability check. Multiple themes can appear in single testimony. Source: Roots of Arakan project records (2025-2026). 13