In July, Rafiq made a daring escape from the world’s largest refugee settlement in southern Bangladesh, navigating his way across the border into Myanmar aboard a small boat. He is headed back to a nation ravaged by civil war, a place he escaped in 2017.
According to sources familiar with the situation and internal reports from aid agencies reviewed by Reuters, thousands of Rohingya insurgents, including 32-year-old Rafiq, have emerged from refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, where there has been a notable increase in militant recruitment and violence this year.
“We must reclaim our territories,” stated Rafiq, a slender man with a beard adorned in a Muslim prayer cap, who dedicated weeks to combat in Myanmar before returning home following a gunshot wound to his leg.
“There is no other way.”
The Rohingya, predominantly a Muslim community recognized as the largest stateless population globally, began their mass exodus to Bangladesh in 2016. This migration was prompted by what the United Nations has characterized as a genocide perpetrated by the military of predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
The ongoing rebellion in Myanmar has intensified following the military coup that took place in 2021. It involves a complex array of armed groups – with Rohingya fighters now entering the fray.
A significant number of individuals have aligned themselves with groups that have a tenuous connection to their previous military oppressors, uniting to combat the Arakan Army ethnic militia. This group has taken control of substantial portions of the western Myanmar state of Rakhine, a region from which many Rohingya have sought refuge.
Reuters interviewed 18 people who described the rise of insurgent groups inside Bangladesh’s refugee camps and reviewed two internal briefings on the security situation written by aid agencies in recent months.
For the first time, a news agency has revealed the extent of recruitment efforts by Rohingya armed groups within the camps, estimating the number of fighters to be between 3,000 and 5,000.
Reuters is also revealing specifics about failed negotiations between the Rohingya and the Arakan Army, inducements offered by the junta to Rohingya fighters such as money and citizenship documents, as well as the cooperation of some Bangladesh officials with the insurgency.
Several individuals, comprising Rohingya fighters, humanitarian workers, and officials from Bangladesh, provided insights on the condition of remaining anonymous or using only their first names.
The government of Bangladesh did not respond to inquiries from Reuters, while the junta stated the news agency denying any conscription of “Muslims.”
Muslim residents have sought protection. “Basic military training was implemented to equip individuals with the skills necessary to protect their villages and regions,” the statement noted.
According to Shahab Enam Khan, an international relations professor at Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh, the two largest Rohingya militant groups, the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), seem to lack widespread support among the camps in Cox’s Bazar.
But the emergence of trained Rohingya fighters and weapons in and around the camps is regarded as a ticking time bomb by Bangladesh, one security source said. Some 30,000 children are born each year into deep poverty in the camps, where violence is rife.
Khan warned that disillusioned refugees may be lured by non-state actors into militant activities, potentially leading them deeper into criminal enterprises. “This development is likely to draw in neighboring countries as well.”
Following a boat journey from the camps to the western Myanmar town of Maungdaw during the midyear monsoon, Rohingya insurgent Abu Afna reported that he was accommodated and provided with weapons by junta troops.
In a coastal town embroiled in conflict between the military and the Arakan Army, Rohingya individuals have reportedly found themselves sharing accommodations with junta soldiers.
“Being in the presence of the junta evokes a profound sense of horror as I stand beside those responsible for the atrocities against our mothers and sisters,” he stated.
The Arakan Army receives support from the predominantly Buddhist ethnic Rakhine community, which comprises individuals who participated in military efforts against the Rohingya population.
This year, Reuters reported that the Arakan Army was implicated in the destruction of one of the largest remaining Rohingya settlements in Myanmar. Additionally, the report highlighted that the RSO had established a “battlefield understanding” with the Myanmar military, indicating a collaborative effort in combat operations.
“Our primary adversary is not the Myanmar government, but rather the Rakhine community,” stated Abu Afna.
According to Abu Afna, along with a source from Bangladesh and a second Rohingya individual who claimed the junta forcibly recruited him, the military has supplied Rohingya with weapons, training, and financial support.
The junta has extended an offer to the Rohingya, providing them with a card that certifies their citizenship in Myanmar.
For specific individuals, it represented a compelling attraction. Rohingya have long been denied citizenship despite generations in Myanmar and are now confined to refugee camps where Bangladesh bans them from seeking formal employment.
“Our motivation was not financial,” Abu Afna stated. “We wanted the card, nationality.”
Approximately 2,000 individuals were enlisted from refugee camps between March and May, facilitated by initiatives that utilized a combination of ideological, nationalist, and financial incentives alongside misleading assurances, intimidation, and coercive tactics. This information comes from a June briefing by an aid agency, which Reuters reviewed under the stipulation that the authors remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the content.
A U.N. official and two Rohingya fighters have reported that numerous individuals, including children as young as 13, were forcibly recruited to join the fight.
Facing financial difficulties, Bangladesh is showing growing hesitation towards accepting Rohingya refugees, with sources indicating that certain officials in the country perceive armed struggle as the sole means for the Rohingya to return to Myanmar. A source stated that supporting a rebel faction was seen as a way for Dhaka to increase its influence.
Retired Brigadier General Md. Manzur Qader of Bangladesh, following his visits to the camps, expressed to Reuters that he believes the government should support the Rohingya in their armed struggle. He argued that such backing would compel the junta and the Arakan Army to engage in negotiations, ultimately aiding in the Rohingya’s return.
According to Qader, the previous government of Bangladesh saw some intelligence officials backing armed groups, albeit with minimal coordination due to the absence of a comprehensive directive.
Near the camps in Cox’s Bazar, where security checkpoints monitor many roads, dozens of Rohingya were taken earlier this year by Bangladesh officials to a jetty overlooking Maungdaw and sent across the border by boat, said Abu Afna, who was part of the group.
“It’s your country; you go and take it back,” one official reportedly advised them.
The account provided remains unverified by Reuters.
In Rakhine state, insurgents faced significant challenges in countering the well-equipped and highly trained Arakan Army. The conflict in Maungdaw has persisted for six months, with Rohingya fighters reporting that strategies such as ambushes have hindered the progress of the rebel offensive.
“The Arakan Army thought they would have a sweeping victory very soon,” said a Bangladesh official with knowledge of the situation. “The participation of the Rohingya in Maungdaw has challenged prevailing assumptions.”
According to Qader and a source with knowledge of the situation, Bangladesh made an effort to facilitate negotiations between the Rohingya and the Arakan Army earlier this year; however, those discussions fell apart swiftly.
Frustration is mounting in Dhaka over the Arakan Army’s tactics of targeting Rohingya settlements, according to two sources. This surge in violence is further complicating the ongoing efforts to repatriate refugees to Rakhine.
The Arakan Army has refuted allegations of targeting Rohingya settlements, asserting that it assists civilians without any religious discrimination.
In Cox’s Bazar, the camps are experiencing significant unrest as rival groups RSO and ARSA vie for control and influence. Frequent incidents of violence and gunfire have instilled fear among residents and hindered humanitarian initiatives.
John Quinley, the director of the human rights organization Fortify Rights, reported that violence had reached unprecedented levels since the establishment of the camps in 2017. A forthcoming report from Fortify reveals that armed groups have claimed the lives of at least 60 individuals this year. The report also highlights instances of abduction and torture of opponents, alongside the use of threats and harassment aimed at silencing critics.
Wendy McCance, director of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Bangladesh, warned that international funding for the camp would run out within 10 years and called for refugees to be given “livelihood opportunities” to avert a “massive vacuum where people, especially young men, are being drawn into organized groups to have an income.”
Sharit Ullah, a Rohingya man who escaped from Maungdaw with his wife and four children in May, described struggling to secure regular food rations.
A former rice and prawn farmer expressed deep concern for his family’s safety in the face of escalating violence.
“We have nothing here,” he stated, his voice barely rising above the shrieks of children playing in the filthy alleyways that weave like filigree through the camps.
“We live in fear.”
