Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/16/two-rohingya-camp-leaders-killed-in-bangladesh
Two Rohingya camp leaders were surrounded by a mob and hacked to death on Saturday, October 15. The murders were blamed on an armed group within the Rohingya camp, called Arkan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). It is considered a terrorist group by Myanmar and Malaysia, and its main goal is to protect from the abuse of Rohingya people under Burmese regimes. The group was founded by recruiting Rohingya men from multiple countries with the intent to attack Myanmar, inciting a long history of violence and tension.
Killings of Rohingya in the region have been happening since November last year, and killings of Myanmar citizens/officers since 2016. During raids of Myanmar and now even in their own camps ARSA members have been reported for killing men, and kidnapping women and children to forcibly convert to Islam. ARSAs treatment of the almost one million Rohingya refugees residing in the camps is reminiscent of Myanmar’s military rule, who demand money and use brutal force to get what they want. The Rohingya are facing repercussions of ARSA, Rival gangs, and Bangladeshi law enforcement aggressively probing into the issues and exploiting the situation using violence and blackmail (setting people up to get money). This causes a never-ending cycle of Bangladesh police questioning a Rohingya, the Rohingya tries to run or hide (can’t find safety in Myanmar), and ends up joining ARSA after exhausting all other options.
The motives for the recent attacks on two camps involved the leaders’ resistance to joining ARSA, which led to violence and eventually a mob killing. Mohibulla, one of the camp leaders who were murdered, had spoken to the UN about Rohingya struggles and had ties with the US that were subsequently lost with his death, leading to hopelessness among the refugees.
The International Crisis Group has been involved in the past, and is likely to be called upon again. The group also claims to have funding links in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as allegedly Malaysia and Australia, which insinuates that they have connections internationally. Bangladesh has arrested nine people since the killings, but it’s unclear who and why. The main focus of Bangladesh law enforcement at the moment is for increased security in refugee camps, preferably from sources outside of Bangladesh due to the toxic relationship between the three groups.
It will be interesting to see how surrounding countries react to this, specifically countries that also house Rohingya refugees. Although they have been facing persecution for almost all of history, it is likely that violence against Rohingya people will rise even more in the coming months. I find it unlikely that the Bangladesh government/law enforcement will handle the matter smoothly or ethically, and hope that the UN may be able to have more influence on the matter.