State Violence Against Ethnic Minorities in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts Condemned by Arakan American Community

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Global Arakan Network October 2, 2025

The Arakan American Community (AAC) has issued a searing condemnation of Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, for brutal violence against indigenous minorities in Guimara, Khagrachhari District, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). In Letter No. 07/2025, dated October 1, the AAC decries a deadly crackdown that left three dead, scores injured, and Marma communities displaced amid arson attacks.

On September 23, a 12-year-old Marma schoolgirl was gang-raped by three Bengali youths in Singinala, igniting protests. On September 28, Bangladeshi military and police, alongside Bengali settlers, fired on unarmed Marma protesters at 5:00 p.m., killing three, including 18-year-old Ma Oo Hla May and 24-year-old Ko Myat Hla Phyu. The Daily Star confirmed the deaths, noting injuries, including to an army major.

The violence escalated as settlers torched 50 marketplace stalls and numerous Marma homes, forcing families to flee under cover of night. Social media videos show flames engulfing villages, with settlers hurling Molotovs as security forces stand by. The CHT, home to 300,000 Marma and other indigenous groups, has long faced tensions from Bengali settlement policies.

Markets and Homes Burnt Down (photocrd)

The AAC demands an impartial international probe into the rape, killings, and coordinated attacks, urging immediate protection for CHT minorities.

“We strongly condemn Yunus’s government for these human rights violations,” the AAC declared, warning of ethnic cleansing.

As global calls for justice grow, including from the Christian Conference of Asia, the Marma’s plight underscores Bangladesh’s fragile ethnic mosaic, demanding urgent action to prevent further bloodshed.