Rohingya women and girls facing escalating sexual violence under Arakan Army control, BROUK warns

For immediate release: 14 May 2026

Sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls, a hallmark of the genocide committed by the Burmese military, is becoming increasingly embedded within systems of detention, coercion and control under Arakan Army (AA) authority in northern Rakhine State, BROUK warned today.

In its new briefing, Sexual Violence Against Rohingya Women and Girls: Emerging patterns of abuse in Arakan Army-controlled areas of Rakhine State, BROUK documents escalating sexual violence linked to detention, forced recruitment and repression targeting Rohingya communities under AA control.

Continuing persecution under AA control

As the AA consolidates control across large areas of Rakhine State, Rohingya women and girls are facing sexual violence across multiple settings amid displacement and worsening humanitarian conditions.

The briefing documents:

• Rape, gang rape and threats of sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls in northern Rakhine State.
• The AA subjecting Rohingya women and girls to sexual violence during recruitment raids, arbitrary detention and incommunicado confinement.
• Rohingya women and girls being detained incommunicado, enabling abuse to occur with impunity.
• Sexual violence and intimidation being used as tools of repression targeting Rohingya communities.
• Worsening humanitarian conditions and displacement increasing the risk of trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse.

Ongoing abuses under AA control, alongside longstanding persecution by the Burmese military, show that international efforts to protect the Rohingya have failed.

These findings come as more than 150,000 Rohingya have fled into Bangladesh since late 2023, while the UN High Commissioner for Refugees recently described the Andaman Sea as an “unmarked grave” for Rohingya refugees.

International inaction and continuing impunity

The findings also come amid growing concern over impunity in Burma, with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar warning that failures to hold perpetrators accountable for atrocity crimes are enabling ongoing abuses.

Nearly nine years after the Rohingya genocide, perpetrators of mass atrocities still have not been held accountable, while Rohingya communities continue to face persecution, denial of citizenship and severe restrictions imposed by both the Burmese military and the AA.

Tun Khin, President of BROUK, said:

“The genocide against the Rohingya did not end in 2017.

“The international community failed to dismantle the system that enabled genocide against the Rohingya. Today, those same structures are being reproduced under new authorities.

“This should deeply alarm the international community.”

BROUK also warned that accountability for abuses against Rohingya communities cannot be selective and must apply regardless of whether violations are committed by the Burmese military or the AA.

Earlier this year, BROUK urged the Argentine court investigating the Rohingya genocide to include atrocities committed by the AA within the scope of accountability efforts.

BROUK calls for urgent international action

BROUK’s recommendations included:

• Convening urgent UN Security Council action on violations of the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures and ongoing abuses against Rohingya communities in Rakhine State.
• Publicly condemning sexual violence against Rohingya women and girls and explicitly naming abuses committed by the AA alongside those of the Burmese military.
• Increasing humanitarian access and funding for Rohingya communities in Rakhine State and refugee camps in Bangladesh.
• Imposing coordinated sanctions and other targeted measures against perpetrators of serious human rights abuses.
• Strengthening international accountability efforts, including support for ICJ proceedings, ICC pathways and universal jurisdiction cases covering crimes committed by both the Burmese military and the AA.
• Increasing support for Rohingya-led organisations documenting sexual violence and human rights abuses in Rakhine State.

Tun Khin added:

“The world said ‘Never Again’ after the genocide against the Rohingya, yet Rohingya women and girls are once again being abandoned to violence, fear and impunity.

“There can be no genuine future for Burma while anti-Rohingya persecution continues.”

Notes to editors

BROUK’s briefing, Sexual Violence Against Rohingya Women and Girls: Emerging patterns of abuse in Arakan Army-controlled areas of Rakhine State, is based on information collected from Rohingya sources in northern Rakhine State between May 2024 and April 2026.

The full briefing can be viewed here

ENDS

For media inquiries:
Please contact Tun Khin on +44 (0)7888 714866 or email info@brouk.org.uk

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