Human Rights Watch said more than 170 Rohingya villagers were killed or remain missing after the 2024 attack….reports Asian Lite News
Human Rights Watch has accused the Arakan Army of killing and wounding hundreds of Rohingya Muslims during an attack on a village in Myanmar’s Rakhine State last year, alleging that the armed group committed grave abuses amounting to war crimes.
In a report released on Monday, HRW said survivors of the May 2, 2024, attack on Hoyyar Siri village in Buthidaung township remain unable to return home, with many allegedly being held under severe restrictions by the Arakan Army.
The 56 page report, titled “Skeletons and Skulls Scattered Everywhere: Arakan Army Massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Hoyyar Siri, Myanmar,” documents how Arakan Army fighters allegedly opened fire on unarmed villagers attempting to flee after clashes erupted near two Myanmar military bases in the area.
According to HRW, details of the massacre only began to emerge more than a year later after survivors managed to escape to Bangladesh and Malaysia.
“The Arakan Army’s murder of hundreds of Rohingya civilians and the burning of their village in Rakhine State in 2024 took the armed conflict with Myanmar’s junta to a new level of depravity,” said Meenakshi Ganguly.
HRW said it interviewed dozens of witnesses and survivors, analysed satellite imagery and verified photographs and videos from the village to corroborate accounts of the attack.
Witnesses alleged that Arakan Army fighters first fired on civilians attempting to leave the village, including some waving white flags. Survivors also claimed villagers gathered in a paddy field near a mosque were later shot indiscriminately.
One survivor told HRW that fighters continued firing even after civilians tried to retreat, while another alleged that wounded villagers were shot repeatedly at close range.
The rights group compiled a list of more than 170 villagers, including around 90 children, who were killed or remain missing following the massacre, though it said the actual toll could be much higher.
HRW also said satellite images and verified footage showed widespread destruction in Hoyyar Siri, including burned homes and human remains scattered across several locations in the village. Witnesses further accused fighters of looting cash and jewellery, abducting Rohingya women and girls, and torturing detainees.
The Arakan Army has denied responsibility for the massacre and told HRW that its fighters targeted only military personnel or members of Rohingya armed groups. The organisation also said it would cooperate with credible international investigations.
According to HRW, surviving residents were later moved to a makeshift camp in February 2025, where they allegedly faced restrictions on movement, forced labour and shortages of food and medical care. Some survivors who fled to Bangladesh claimed they were forced to provide false testimony during a controlled media visit organised by the armed group.
The report said the massacre highlighted continuing dangers faced by Rohingya communities in Rakhine State, despite areas coming under the control of the Arakan Army instead of Myanmar’s military junta.
HRW urged both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army to end attacks on civilians, release unlawfully detained people and cooperate with independent international investigations into alleged abuses in the region. ‘No one was spared’: HRW exposes brutal Rohingya killings
