- EURASIAREVIEW.COM - A la une - 01/Jul 00:05

Bangladesh-Myanmar: Arakan Army’s Creeping Malignancy – Analysis

By Shivangi Sharma On June 13, 2025, the Arakan Army reportedly seized and looted three Bangladeshi fishing boats at gunpoint near Naikhongdia (Bay of Bengal) in Myanmar, as they were returning from deep-sea fishing—taking away the catch, fuel, and provisions. As a result, more than 400 boats have remained idle in Teknaf for over a week due to fears over safety. On May 12, 2025, tensions escalated along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as the Arakan Army opened fire on Bangladeshi fishermen on the Naf River near Shah Porir Dwip near Lada Union and Jaliapara in Teknaf Upazila (Sub-District) in Cox's Bazar District, injuring two persons, Hedayet Ullah (18) and Mohammad Hossain (18). On the same day, three other fishermen were reportedly abducted from the Leda border in Hnila Union. On May 1, 2025, four Rohingya men – Arafat Ullah, Anis Ullah, Md Jaber, and Anwar Sadek – were detained by the Arakan Army at Laldia near Damdamia in the Hnila Union in Teknaf Upazila in Cox's Bazar District. On April 23, 2025, the Arakan Army abducted two Bangladeshi fishermen, Badshah Alam (45) and Abul Kalam (40), from the Naf River in the Bogar Dwip area (Whykong) in the Teknaf Upazila of Cox's Bazar District. On April 8, 2025, the Arakan Army abducted 23 Bangladeshi fishermen and seized four trawlers from Bangladeshi waters near the Saint Martin’s Island coast. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least 156 Bangladeshi fishermen have been abducted by the Arakan Army since they took over the Maungdaw township of the Rakhine State of Myanmar on December 8, 2024, so far (data till June 29, 2025). Among them, 137 were brought back by the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). According to several fishermen, who were rescued after being abducted, the Arakan Army had abducted Bangladeshi fishermen from the Naf River to establish regular communication with the government of Bangladesh. Arakan Army cadres expressed their willingness to open negotiations with the government in conversations with the fishermen while they were in detention in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The presence of the Arakan Army near the bordering areas of Bangladesh has led to an environment of fear among Bangladeshi fishermen. The Arakan Army, which took control of Maungdaw township in Rakhine state in December 2024, has increased patrols in the Naf River, prompting severe concerns. Fishermen allege the group enters Bangladeshi waters on speedboats to carry out abductions, allegedly to initiate communications with the Bangladesh government. Additionally, a 58-day government-imposed fishing ban from 15 April, 2025, has compounded hardships. Over 400 trawlers remain docked, affecting the livelihoods of 10 to 15 thousand people. Local authorities, including Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sheikh Ehsan Uddin, acknowledged the issue, while communication with the armed group remains difficult. The ongoing situation has triggered a shortage of sea fish and severe financial distress among fishing communities. The Jalkeli Festival (Water Festival) was held on April 16–17, 2025, in the Jhirimukh area of Thanchi Upazila in Bandarban District, approximately 10 kilometres within the Remakri Union border of Bangladesh. During the event, uniformed Arakan Army cadres were reportedly observed moving freely throughout the festival grounds, including ascending the stage, raising concerns about cross-border security and the presence of non-state armed actors on Bangladeshi territory. On April 16, 2025, Teknaf 2 Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) battalion Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Ashiqur Rahman revealed that the Arakan Army had abducted over 151 Bangladeshi fishermen in the preceding five months from the Naf River and the Bay of Bengal. However, BGB managed to bring back 134 of them and was trying to rescue the remaining ones as soon as possible. Alarmingly, an International Crisis Group report, “Bangladesh/Myanmar: The Dangers of a Rohingya Insurgency”, published on June 18, 2025, warns that armed Rohingya groups were recruiting from Cox’s Bazar refugee camps to fight the Arakan Army in Myanmar's Rakhine State. Following the Arakan Army’s military gains, Rohingya groups have united to resist the Arakan Army, pausing inter-group camp violence but increasing recruitment. The report urges Bangladesh to curb militant influence, strengthen refugee leadership, and enhance trade and aid ties with Rakhine. It recommends, further, that the Arakan Army adopts inclusive governance and engages in dialogue with Rohingya groups. As US aid declines, international donors are called on to increase support for the camps to prevent further destabilisation and insurgent growth in the region. The Arakan Army, led by Major General Twan Mratt Naing, was established on April 10, 2009, at Laiza, a town in the remote Kachin State of Myanmar. Naing was disappointed by the divisions within the Rakhine movement, especially the Arakan National Congress (ANC), so he made his group of 29 fellow activists with Nyo Twan Awng, a medical doctor, the Arakan Army’s deputy leader, and U Khine Thu Kha, who was an experienced operator and former senior member of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), as its ‘spokesman’. In 2011, during the early period of the Arakan Army, it trained and fought alongside the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in battles against the Tatmadaw(the Myanmar Military). Interestingly, the Arakan Army has been suspected of funding its rebellion through the transport and sale of methamphetamines, called Yaba in Myanmar (from the Thai phrase for “crazy medicine”). Significantly, the political agenda of the Arakan Army and its bureaucratic wing, the United League of Arakan (ULA), can be encapsulated as the ‘Arakan Dream’ and its strategy of “The Way of Rakhita”, a call for a nationwide uprising by the ethnic Rakhine against the ethnic Bamar (who dominate Myanmar’s government and military) to retake the State, ensure political self-determination for the Rakhine people, and restore the greatness of the Arakan State. The Arakan Army thus declares, "In solidarity with all ethnic people who have been struggling in Burma and with the Arakanese around the globe in particular, we pursue our mission with excellence, compassion and modesty to protect our fatherland. Profoundly guided by inspirations of our faith, value, legacy and true vision that unite us as a people - we are committed to meet the tests of history; it defines our destiny. The land of Arakan belongs to the people of Arakan. To protect our ancestral land is the price of our freedom. No one should be denied the right to determine their own destiny, to be free of oppression - because freedom of expression is universal aspiration of humanity." It is useful to mention here that the first significant act of violence by the Arakan Army took place on August 26, 2015, when its cadres exchanged fire with the BGB near a BGB camp in the Barha Modak area of Bandarban District. After the incident, two teams of the Bangladesh Army and another of the BGB were flown into the Barha Modak area. The BGB stated that a patrol of the force retaliated when the Arakan Army fired on them. On December 8, 2024, the Arakan Army claimed to have full control of the border (between Bangladesh and Myanmar) and imposed restrictions on the Myanmar side of the Naf River, which divides the countries, making it inaccessible to any Myanmar citizen. Due to this, BGB and the Bangladesh Coast Guard were on high alert, with round-the-clock surveillance near and on the river. Since this incident, the Arakan Army has gained more visibility, especially in Bangladesh, as Rohingya infiltration has also become a major security concern for the national security of Bangladesh. In a January 2022 interview with the Asia Times, Commander Maj. Gen. Twan Mrat Naing stated that the Arakan Army had grown to 30,000 soldiers, mainly present in Rakhine. The Arakan Army began to expand its area of operations, moving from Kachin State and northern Shan State in Myanmar’s north, through the Chin State in the west following communal violence in Rakhine State in 2012. Since then, the Arakan Army has quietly deployed growing numbers of troops in northern Rakhine State and Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State, launching attacks against government securit...