Episode: KPN 02-09-2026

Nine years after 2017 crackdown, Rohingya still await justice as new atrocities emerge: SAC-M

Nine years after Myanmar’s military launched its 2017 crackdown against the Rohingya in northern Rakhine State, the community is still waiting for justice while facing renewed violence, displacement and increasingly dangerous journeys in search of safety, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) said on Tuesday.

In a statement marking the ninth anniversary, SAC-M remembered those killed in the 2017 violence and paid tribute to survivors, while renewing its call for justice, restoration of Rohingya rights and conditions that would allow safe, dignified and voluntary return to their homeland.

“To bring the perpetrators of the Rohingya genocide to justice is a moral imperative of our time,” SAC-M member Yanghee Lee said.

Lee called on the international community to examine why Rohingya continue to face persecution while those accused of abuses, both past and present, have largely avoided accountability.

Renewed conflict places Rohingya at risk

SAC-M said violence against Rohingya has continued with impunity since Myanmar’s military seized power in February 2021, amid widespread abuses against civilians across the country.

The organization said renewed large-scale fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State has again placed Rohingya civilians in extreme danger. SAC-M dates the renewed full-scale conflict to late 2023.

One of the most serious recent allegations concerns Hoyyar Siri village, also known in Burmese as Htan Shauk Khan, in Buthidaung Township.

A Human Rights Watch investigation published on May 18 found that AA fighters may have killed at least 170 Rohingya men, women and children as civilians fled Hoyyar Siri on May 2, 2024. HRW said it interviewed 41 witnesses and corroborated their accounts using satellite imagery, photographs and videos.

HRW identified by name more than 170 people killed or still missing, including at least 90 children, and said the actual toll could be substantially higher.

The United League of Arakan, the AA’s political wing, has denied the allegations. In a response to HRW, it maintained that its members had not violated the laws of war during the fighting.

SAC-M said the allegations warrant an independent international investigation and efforts to hold any perpetrators accountable.

More than 150,000 Rohingya flee Myanmar

More than 150,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since 2024, most crossing into Bangladesh, according to SAC-M. Others have attempted perilous sea journeys toward countries including Indonesia and Malaysia.

SAC-M said more than 500 Rohingya asylum seekers were feared drowned after two overcrowded boats disappeared off Myanmar’s coast in late June.

For Rohingya still living in Rakhine State, SAC-M member Marzuki Darusman said the combination of armed conflict and a severe humanitarian crisis makes return under present conditions unsafe.

“Repatriation to Myanmar in these conditions is recklessly irresponsible,” Darusman said, describing Rohingya as increasingly confronting the danger of remaining in Rakhine as well as the danger of fleeing.

Human Rights Watch separately concluded in its May investigation that conditions do not currently exist for the “safe, sustainable, and dignified return” of Rohingya refugees because of continuing abuses by both the Myanmar military and the AA.

Refugees in Bangladesh face worsening conditions

SAC-M said an estimated 1.2 million Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh are facing increasingly difficult conditions.

Restrictions on employment and limited educational opportunities, combined with cuts in international humanitarian assistance, have further reduced access to essential services, the council said.

With neither a foreseeable path home nor full access to basic rights and opportunities where they live, refugees remain trapped in prolonged uncertainty, SAC-M added.

Despite the pressures, the council highlighted efforts by Rohingya themselves to advocate for their future.

It said Rohingya women continue to organize for their rights, while younger refugees have increasingly spoken out against intimidation by criminal networks operating inside the camps.

Rohingya survivors pursue justice at ICJ

SAC-M also pointed to ongoing international legal proceedings as a major avenue in the Rohingya community’s pursuit of accountability.

Rohingya survivors testified before the International Court of Justice in January in proceedings in the genocide case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar, SAC-M said.

The council said their testimony has played a central role in the proceedings and that a judgment is expected later in 2026.

SAC-M member Chris Sidoti said the judgment could have significance beyond Myanmar by contributing to international efforts to prevent and punish genocide.

“The international community must seize this opportunity to secure justice for the Rohingya,” Sidoti said.

Nine years after the 2017 violence forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya across the border into Bangladesh, SAC-M said accountability, restoration of rights and conditions for a safe, voluntary and dignified return remain unresolved.

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