Arakan Army (AA) has developed a structured psychological operations (PSYOPS) campaign designed to dominate, isolate, and terrorize Rohingya communities across northern Arakan (Rakhine) State. This PSYOPS network works alongside AA’s forced-labor system, land grabs, detentions, and extortion, creating a coordinated environment of fear that pushes Rohingya into silence or forced displacement.

AA propaganda teams operate through village-level informants, local Rakhine-language media outlets, controlled Telegram channels, and “community meetings” where AA cadres dictate narratives. Their messaging systematically labels Rohingya as “outsiders”, “illegal settlers”, and “security threats”, justifying mass surveillance and coercive restrictions.

AA-linked hate-speech networksparticularly on Facebook, Telegram, and TikTokspread doctored videos, staged photos, and fabricated stories portraying Rohingya as collaborating with the Myanmar Military or extremist groups. These organized disinformation campaigns are amplified by Rakhine ultra-nationalist influencers who coordinate closely with AA’s information wing.

Rohingya civilians report that AA uses public humiliation sessions, forced confessions, and threats to “erase families from the village list” to break psychological resistance. Villagers are told they will “lose land, farms, and male relatives” if they criticize AA, refuse forced labor, or communicate with outside observers.

AA Psychological Warfare Operations (PSYOPS) Targeting Rohingya

• AA cadres distribute printed leaflets in Buthidaung and Maungdaw, warning Rohingya that “cooperation with outsiders” will result in “collective punishment”.
• Loudspeaker threats are used at night in some mixed villages, telling Rohingya to obey “Rakhine national order” or face expulsion.
• AA has staged “confession videos” of abducted Rohingya men, forcing them to state they were “spies”. These videos are then used to justify further crackdowns.
• In multiple villages, AA holds meetings without allowing Rohingya elders to speak, using these sessions to issue threats and psychological pressure.
• Some AA units force Rohingya detainees to perform humiliating actsrecorded and then circulated to intimidate entire communities.

Digital Disinformation & Online Hate Operations

• AA-linked Telegram channels publish targeted lists of Rohingya “suspects”, pushing public fear and encouraging harassment.
• Coordinated hate-speech networks circulate rumors claiming Rohingya “plan attacks”, deliberately provoking local hostility.
• Edited images show Rohingya carrying weapons, later proven fake but used by AA to justify new security restrictions.
• AA information teams instruct sympathizers to flood comment sections with anti-Rohingya rhetoric to drown out any criticism.
• Pro-AA media repeatedly frame AA atrocitiesburned villages, forced displacement, abductions as “security measures”.

Community Manipulation & Isolation Tactics

• AA orders Rohingya to attend “loyalty meetings” where they must pledge silence regarding AA abuses.
  Village administrators are pressured to report on Rohingya movements and phone communications.
  Threats are issued that families will be removed from land registries if they “spread negative information”.
  Psychological warfare is reinforced through unpredictable searches, night raids, and selective punishment to create constant fear.

Strategic Goal of AA’s PSYOPS Against Rohingya

The objective is not only control, but also depopulation.
AA seeks to:

1. Break Rohingya social cohesion.
2. Suppress public reporting of AA crimes.
3. Justify military-style crackdowns and collective punishment.
4. Force population movements that allow AA to seize land, expand influence, and reshape demographic control.

As AA escalates its narco-militia governance model, psychological warfare has become central to its strategycombined with forced labor, detentions, extortion, and movement bansto push Rohingya toward silence, exile, or elimination from key territories.