The International Crisis Group, a global non-profit think tank, in a report on Wednesday said that Rohingya armed groups were recruiting Rohingyas sheltered in Bangladesh camps in Cox鈥檚 Bazar and were being trained to fight Myanmar鈥檚 rebel group Arakan Army that now controls Rakhine State.
The information came in the ICG report titled 鈥楤angladesh/Myanmar: The Dangers of a Rohingya Insurgency鈥�.
The report was based on field research in Bangladesh during February and March 2025, and on interviews with the Arakan Army and Rohingya armed group leaders, Rakhine and Rohingya activists, civil society leaders and politicians, and United Nations and NGO officials over a period of six months.
鈥楻ohingya armed groups, meanwhile, have already started carrying out attacks on the Arakan Army in Rakhine State and are training fighters in camps along the border. Further intensification of this insurgency would cause great harm to聽 all concerned 鈥� Rohingya civilians, the Arakan Army and Bangladesh,鈥� said the report of the Brussels-based ICG.
Asked for comment, Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner top official Mizanur Rahman said that the allegations of training activities by the Rohingya armed groups in camps were completely 鈥榝alse鈥�.
鈥楢nything happening on the Myanmar side is not our concern,鈥� he said, adding that they were not giving importance to any such Rohingya armed group.
The report predicted that the recruitment and training activity would heighten the risk of further bloodshed between the Buddhist majority and Rohingya Muslim minority within Rakhine State, as well as increase the likelihood that more Rohingya would flee the conflict across the border to Bangladesh.
The report also said that the Arakan Army鈥檚 defeat of the Myanmar military in northern Rakhine State had shifted Rohingya armed groups onto the front foot.
聽The report mentioned two Rohingya armed groups 鈥� Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and Rohingya Solidarity Organisation.
Meanwhile, other Rohingya groups claimed that they were preparing to join the fight in Rakhine State.
鈥楤angladesh and others are trying to resolve [the repatriation issue] politically and we鈥檙e waiting for the results. If they can鈥檛 do that, then we will do it ourselves,鈥� the report quoted a senior RSO official as saying.
鈥榃e will start a war against the Arakan Army, if they ignore our rights,鈥� the RSO official said.
The report said that there were also indications that the Myanmar military was planning to support Rohingya armed groups against the Arakan Army so as to weaken its rival.
鈥業n May, the regime reportedly dispatched a Rohingya man from Rakhine to Bangladesh for meetings with Rohingya armed group leaders in Cox鈥檚 Bazar. During these talks, the man promised that Naypyitaw would provide weapons if the armed groups could build up their forces sufficiently,鈥� the report added.
At the same time, the Bangladeshi government has started engaging tentatively with the Arakan Army, which controls Myanmar鈥檚 entire border with the country, the report said.
It said that mounting attacks by Rohingya armed groups in Rakhine were not only likely to undermine these talks, but could also heighten anti-Rohingya sentiment in Myanmar, damaging prospects for the repatriation of up to one million refugees.
The report recommended that Bangladesh should curb the influence of Rohingya armed groups in camps and step up dialogue with the Arakan Army.
Over 13 lakh Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh amid atrocities against them by the Myanmar military since 2017, according to government data.
In a letter to the RRRC in April, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees pressed for ensuring accommodation for 1.13 lakh more Rohingyas who entered Bangladesh between November 2023 and April 27, 2025.
