Rohingya
09
GENOCIDE DAY
An Unconstitutional
Operation in North
Rakhine
BY AMAN ULLAH
MAP BY WIKIMEDIA
Following the initial attacks attributed to ARSA in October 2016, government authorities have at
various points in time declared parts of northern Rakhine State to be subject to ‘area clearance
operations.’ This term was also applied to areas of Kachin State during 2017. In Rakhine State, the
last time authorities reported area clearance operations to be in effect was in Maungdaw Township
on 12 September 2017, via a public announcement from the government’s Information Committee on
13 September 2017.
In the name of this clearance operation the Myanmar security forces purposely destroyed the
property of the Rohingyas, targeting their houses, fields, food-stocks, crops, livestock and even
trees, to render the possibility of the Rohingya returning to normal lives and livelihoods in the future
in northern Rakhine almost impossible.