Rohingya ordered to report overnight stays under new Burma rule

 YANGON, Burma (MNTV) — Rohingya living under Arakan Army control in western Burma are being required to notify authorities whenever they spend the night away from their own homes, even when staying with relatives or other families in the same village.

Village administrators in northern Maungdaw Township announced the new requirement over loudspeakers on Aug. 25, according to Rohingya Khobor. Residents were told they must also notify local authorities before spending the night in another village.

The order has caused anxiety among Rohingya residents because authorities warned that failure to comply could result in serious action without specifying what penalties people could face.

“Even if we stay at another house in our own village, we are now told to report it,” one resident said. “People are worried because they do not know what will happen if they forget to report.”

Residents said the requirement could make routine family visits and emergencies more difficult, forcing people to seek or provide notification before staying with relatives.

The restrictions come alongside an increased security presence in Maungdaw, where residents have reported seeing groups of about 15 or more armed Arakan Army personnel patrolling Rohingya villages and surrounding areas during the day and at night.

The Arakan Army, which has established control over most of Rakhine state after driving out Burma’s military from large areas, captured Maungdaw in late 2024 and has since expanded its own administration and security apparatus across the strategically important township bordering Bangladesh.

Earlier this month, the group reportedly imposed a nighttime curfew across Maungdaw district from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., requiring residents to notify authorities before travelling during emergencies.

The latest measures have deepened concerns among Rohingya that one system of restrictions is being replaced by another after decades of severe controls on their freedom of movement under Burma’s military and civilian authorities.

The United Nations has documented serious abuses against Rohingya living in areas controlled by the Arakan Army, including restrictions on movement, arbitrary arrests, forced recruitment and labor, property confiscation and denial of humanitarian assistance.

In its latest assessment this month, the UN human rights office said Rohingya remained trapped between abuses committed by the military and the Arakan Army, despite the shifting territorial control in Rakhine.

The predominantly Muslim Rohingya have faced decades of persecution in Burma, where most are denied citizenship. More than one million now live as refugees in neighboring Bangladesh, the majority having fled a brutal military crackdown in 2017.