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“The Rakhine Community of Arakan State “Won the Game” of Eliminating the Rohingya within 70 Years”
For more than seven decades, the Rohingya people of Arakan (Rakhine State, Myanmar) have endured one of the longest and most systematic campaigns of persecution in modern history — a campaign that can be described, with deep sorrow and irony, as a “game” to eliminate the Rohingya from their ancestral land within 70 years.
Origins of a Deadly Campaign:
The Rakhine Buddhist community has historically shown the deepest hostility toward the Rohingya and other Muslim minorities in Rakhine State. After Myanmar’s independence, many ordinary Burmese people still held compassion toward the Rohingya; however, the Rakhine leadership and their nationalist propagandists successfully manipulated Burmese public opinion. Through decades of deceit and propaganda, they convinced much of the Burmese majority that the Rohingya and other Muslims were a threat to national security and to Buddhism itself — a falsehood that fueled fear, hatred, and state-sponsored violence.
The Start of Systematic Persecution (1962 Onwards):
The campaign began in earnest following the 1962 military coup led by General Ne Win, which marked the beginning of an era of institutionalized persecution. Under his rule, the military adopted anti-Rohingya policies inspired by the narratives promoted by the Rakhine community. From this period onward, oppression was formalized through discriminatory laws, arbitrary arrests, forced labor, and denial of basic rights. Between 1962 and 1988, Ne Win’s regime consolidated military control, marginalized minorities, and laid the groundwork for total exclusion. The Rakhine community, operating largely from behind the curtain, succeeded in embedding anti-Rohingya sentiment into the state’s political and social fabric.
The Role of Propaganda and Hate Movements:
Hate speech and disinformation became powerful tools. Using religious influence and media, extremist groups such as the 969 Movement and Ma Ba Tha (Association for the Protection of Race and Religion) spread virulent propaganda that portrayed the Rohingya as invaders and enemies of Buddhism. Monks, preachers, and ultranationalist figures were instrumental in legitimizing discrimination and violence in the name of religion. Over time, this propaganda took deep root in society, transforming public perception and enabling persecution to continue largely unchallenged.
Institutionalized Oppression and Key Stages of Elimination:
The systematic oppression of the Rohingya followed a deliberate sequence of actions — all of which progressively erased their identity and existence in Rakhine State:
Statelessness and Legal Exclusion:
The 1982 Citizenship Law was the cornerstone of the campaign, officially stripping the Rohingya of citizenship and rendering them stateless. It denied them national identity, political participation, and access to rights, services, and freedom of movement. This single law institutionalized exclusion and set the stage for mass atrocities.
Major Atrocities and Expulsions:
1. 1978 — Operation Nagamin (Dragon King): A brutal “citizenship verification” campaign led to widespread arrests, torture, and the expulsion of tens of thousands of Rohingya to Bangladesh.
2. 1991–1992: Another wave of oppression triggered the flight of more than 250,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh amid forced labor, extortion, and systematic abuse.
3. 2012 — Communal Violence: Coordinated attacks and incitement led to large-scale internal displacement; many Rohingya were forced into fenced camps where they remain confined to this day.
4. 2016–2017 — “Clearance Operations”: Myanmar’s military carried out massacres, mass rapes, and the burning of entire villages. Over 700,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh — an atrocity described by the United Nations as ethnic cleansing with genocidal intent.
5. 2017-2024 another more than 300,000 were forced to leave.
6. 202-2025 more than 150,000 were forced to leave the Arakan State by the Arakan Army
Long-Term Discrimination and Oppression:
Between these mass expulsions, the Rohingya suffered under:
• Severe movement restrictions and travel bans;
• Denial of education, health care, and marriage registration;
• Forced labor and confiscation of farmland;
• Arbitrary arrests, extortion, and systemic poverty.
These conditions created a slow, invisible genocide — not through immediate slaughter, but through deprivation, humiliation, and displacement.
Manipulation of Burmese Power and Society:
For decades, the Rakhine leadership influenced military and civilian governments from behind the scenes.
They orchestrated policy directions, spread communal hatred, and sabotaged every effort at reconciliation or citizenship reform. From 1962 to 2017, they worked quietly within military frameworks. From 2017 to 2024, they became more visible and assertive in public, and by 2024–2025, they emerged fully as direct actors in violence, operating through the Arakan Army — their armed wing.
Recent Atrocities (2024–2025): The Final Phase:
In recent years, the Arakan Army, a predominantly Rakhine force, has openly continued the decades-old agenda under the guise of “liberation.” Reports from the ground indicate that between 2024 and 2025, the Arakan Army drove out more than 150,000 Rohingya from Rakhine State. Villages were burned, thousands were detained and tortured, and the few remaining Rohingya were forced to flee daily.
The result: near-total depopulation of Rohingya from their ancestral homeland — completing what was set in motion in 1962.
The Humanitarian Consequence:
Today, millions of Rohingya live stateless across borders — in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, India, and elsewhere — without citizenship, legal protection, or a path to return. The refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar stand as living evidence of the world’s failure to stop a slow, deliberate elimination that spanned seven decades.
A Global Call for Truth and Accountability:
The so-called “game” of eliminating the Rohingya was not a spontaneous tragedy; it was a deliberate, coordinated campaign of hate, misinformation, and political manipulation. Its players — extremist elements within the Rakhine community, the Myanmar military, and complicit political actors — must be held accountable under international law.
The world must:
• Recognize the Rohingya genocide officially;
• Support justice and accountability through the ICJ and ICC;
• Protect remaining Rohingya within Myanmar;
• Ensure safe, dignified, and voluntary repatriation with guaranteed rights and citizenship.
Conclusion
The “victory” of eliminating an entire people from their homeland is no victory at all — it is humanity’s deepest shame. The Rohingya story is a warning to the world: when lies, prejudice, and silence prevail, genocide becomes possible. The time has come not just to remember the past, but to act — to rebuild justice, restore rights, and ensure that no people, anywhere, ever become the target of such a “game” again.

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