Arakan Army’s Propaganda Media Network Seeks to Hide Rohingya Atrocities and Erase the Truth

For decades, the Rohingya population of Myanmar’s Arakan State has faced state-led persecution, displacement, and genocide under the Burmese military. The United Nations and international human rights organizations have repeatedly recognized these actions as the most severe human rights violations in modern history. The campaign depended not only on military operations but also on a long-term propaganda effort that labelled the Rohingya as illegal immigrants, spreading false claims and erased the identities of Rohingya from the country’s historical record.

Since the Arakan Army (AA) gained control over large parts of Arakan State, the dynamics of oppression have changed but not ended. The same land that once witnessed military-led massacres is now under the control of an ethnic Rakhine armed group that is repeating many of the same crimes. The AA, once seen as a force opposing the Myanmar military, has increasingly turned its weapons against the remaining Rohingya population and other ethnic minorities such as the Mro and their strong willingness to establish only Rakhine's ethnic based country separating from Myanmar.

Their huge military capabilities were strengthened by joining forces from countries like Bangladesh’s Bandarban, India, Nepal, Thailand and from within Arakan State. Many of their militant forces deployed in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships were found to be speaking in Bengali language and some in Chittagonian and Rohingya language while they faced civilians in the areas.

In 2024 and 2025, widespread reports from survivors and human rights monitors documented a series of mass killings across northern and western Arakan State. One of the deadliest incidents occurred in Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) village, where approximately over six hundred Rohingya civilians were killed in a coordinated assault. Witnesses reported that AA militants surrounded the area, executed men and burned homes while preventing villagers from fleeing. The scene that followed was one of devastation, with bodies discovered in open fields, mountain slopes, and along riverbanks.

Following the Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) massacre, AA militants launched a deliberate campaign to suppress and rewrite the narrative of its actions. This effort has relied on a network of affiliated and sympathetic media outlets including Western News, Narinjara, Khit Thit Media, Development Media Group, Arakan Bay News (ABN) and other small minor social media accounts like Lay Wadi Media, Arakan Myae, and Border News Agency. These platforms, along with other regional channels, have published content aligning with the AA’s perspective, consistently denying or redirecting responsibility for atrocities.

Several unethical Rakhine journalists, including Ni Min Tun, have been identified as key figures in the dissemination of narratives favorable to the militant Arakan Army (AA). Many of these outlets or their contributors operate from within Arakan State and the bordering Bandarban Hill District of Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and US, where profiles and location data indicate cross-border coordination in their coverage. Their reporting frequently echoes AA’s official statements, portrays Rohingya victims as militants and attempts to divert attention from documented massacres.

An investigation by Human Rights Watch (HRW), titled “Skeletons and Skulls Scattered Everywhere,” documents extensive atrocities committed by the Arakan Army (AA) during and after the May 2, 2024 massacre in Hoyyar Siri village (Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State).

HRW interviewed 41 survivors and witnesses—including 31 Rohingya men, seven women, two girls, and one boy—most of whom directly witnessed the attack or escaped AA-controlled areas. Their testimonies describe how AA fighters opened fire on fleeing civilians, compiled a verified list of at least 170 Rohingya civilians killed or missing (including roughly 90 children), and engaged in summary executions, severe torture, and abductions.

Eyewitness testimonies, photographic evidence, satellite imagery, and forensic materials reviewed by HRW reveal a deliberate pattern of targeted violence, arson, and village destruction. Human Rights Watch concluded that the Arakan Army's actions constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

At the same time, the militant Arakan Army (AA) continues to manipulate public perception by exploiting the conflict with the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA). Whenever AA soldiers are killed in combat, their deaths are often presented in affiliated media as civilian casualties. Conversely, when Rohingya civilians are killed by AA forces, the group claims they were ARSA members. This information strategy mirrors the propaganda once used by the Myanmar military and serves to confuse observers, erase accountability, and sustain hostility toward the Rohingya community.

The situation for Rohingya civilians inside Arakan State remains dire. Hundreds of thousands of people have been under the trap of Arakan Army controlled areas, deprived of humanitarian access and subjected to constant threats, forcibly labouring and continuous persecutions over the Rohingya Muslims. The Naf River, which separates Myanmar and Bangladesh, has again become a tragic symbol of escape and death. Bodies of Rohingya men, women and children have been found floating toward Bangladesh and further across the Bay of Bengal.

The militant Arakan Army’s ongoing efforts to dismiss and erase the Hoyyar Siri (Htan Shauk Khan) massacre from public memory reflect a calculated campaign to conceal crimes and reshape the historical record. Its expanding propaganda network now rivals that of the former Myanmar military in both scale and sophistication.

Without an urgent and coordinated international response, the Rohingya and other minorities in Arakan State risk being erased once again, not only through violence but through the manipulation of truth itself. The International Court of Justice must act now, otherwise this would be the last presence of Rohingya in Arakan if the militant Arakan Army and its Rakhines succeed in such continuous massacres against Rohingya.