Myanmar Military Never Tried to Dismantle ARSA, Instead Collaborated with Them to Fight Arakan Army (AA), Says Gambia’s Lawyer
[ICJ Report]
January 27 | Burma Independent Voice
During his oral arguments at the International Court of Justice, Arsalan Suleman, a lawyer representing The Gambia, stated that the Myanmar military never truly attempted to completely dismantle ARSA and, instead, collaborated with ARSA to fight the Arakan Army (AA).
In court, Suleman presented witness testimony stating: “It is public knowledge that the authorities were monitoring ARSA and knew its members. They learned about ARSA members through informants. Although the authorities received information from informants, they never attempted to dismantle ARSA. This has always been incomprehensible to me. I believe they [the authorities] allowed ARSA to continue existing just to have a pretext to attack our villages—which they truly wanted to do—and leave them depopulated.”
The lawyer continued, “When all these factors are combined, I am convinced that the Myanmar government allowed ARSA to exist as an excuse to continue persecuting us until we were eradicated.”
Furthermore, he stated that the Myanmar military collaborated with ARSA in its operations against the Arakan Army (AA).
Lawyer Suleman noted that during the first round of hearings, The Gambia presented irrefutable evidence regarding the Myanmar military’s recent cooperation with ARSA to attack the Arakan Army. He pointed out that Myanmar’s silence on this specific matter during the proceedings is noteworthy.
Throughout 2024, various domestic and international news reports also indicated that armed groups such as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), and the Arakan Rohingya Army (ARA) collaborated with the military council to fight the Arakan Army (AA) during border battles in Buthidaung and Maungdaw.
