Two years after a devastating attack in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, a newly released report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses the Arakan Army (AA) of massacring hundreds of Rohingya Muslims and systematically burning down their homes and village.
According to the 56-page HRW report released today, survivors of the May 2024 attack on Hoyyar Siri (also known as Htan Shauk Khan) remain effectively detained by the ethnic armed group and are unable to return home.
The report, titled “‘Skeletons and Skulls Scattered Everywhere’: Arakan Army Massacre of Rohingya Muslims in Hoyyar Siri, Myanmar,” draws on dozens of witness interviews, verified photographs and videos, and satellite imagery to document the grim events of May 2, 2024.
“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,” stated Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW’s deputy Asia director.
“Today, the massacre’s survivors are effectively detained by the Arakan Army, which has neither provided redress nor held those responsible to account.”
Anatomy of the attack
The massacre occurred amid renewed hostilities between Myanmar regime forces and the AA that began in late 2023. According to HRW’s findings, as the AA advanced on nearby Myanmar military bases, its fighters deliberately targeted unarmed Rohingya civilians attempting to flee.
Witnesses provided harrowing accounts of the assault:
- Targeting Fleeing Civilians: Fighters reportedly opened fire on villagers leaving Hoyyar Siri, even as some waved white flags. One survivor recounted seeing his son, wife, and two daughters shot sequentially as they attempted to turn back.
- Summary Executions: Fighters gathered a group of villagers in a paddy field near a mosque and opened fire randomly. Witnesses reported that fighters approached wounded individuals, including a survivor’s husband, and shot them again at close range to ensure they were dead.
- Abductions and Torture: Survivors alleged that fighters robbed them of cash and jewelry, abducted Rohingya women and girls, and subjected detainees to beatings and torture, including the use of electric shocks.
HRW has compiled a list of over 170 villagers—including approximately 90 children—who were killed or remain missing, though researchers note the actual death toll is likely much higher.
Evidence and cover-up allegations
The AA has vehemently rejected responsibility for the massacre. In a letter to HRW, the armed group claimed its fighters only targeted military personnel or members of Rohingya armed groups.
However, HRW states that visual evidence contradicts these claims. Researchers verified media showing human remains at three separate village sites, with civilian clothing clearly visible among the dead.
Furthermore, satellite imagery corroborates witness testimony that AA fighters set fire to Hoyyar Siri, ultimately destroying the entire settlement after seizing control.
The report also details severe ongoing abuses against the survivors:
- Forced Relocation: In February 2025, the AA ordered all surviving residents into a nearby makeshift camp.
- Camp Conditions: Those who later escaped to Bangladesh reported being denied freedom of movement, subjected to forced labor, and deprived of adequate food and medical care.
- Coerced Testimony: Survivors alleged that in August 2025, the armed group orchestrated a controlled media visit to the village, forcing them to provide false testimony exonerating the AA.
Calls for accountability
The Hoyyar Siri massacre highlights the ongoing peril for the more than one million Rohingya who have fled Myanmar over the past decade due to military atrocities, underscoring that returning to Rakhine State remains unsafe even in areas no longer controlled by the regime.
Human Rights Watch is demanding that both the Myanmar military and the AA immediately cease attacks on civilians, release all unlawful detainees, and provide redress to victims’ families.
The rights organization is also urging both parties to grant full access to independent investigators, including the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM).
“Myanmar’s military seemed indifferent to the plight of the Rohingya civilians at Hoyyar Siri in 2024, and since then the junta has done nothing to address their broader human rights concerns,” Ganguly said.
“Concerned governments should urgently press both the Myanmar junta and the Arakan Army to respect the rights of all communities in Rakhine State.”
