[4] At its inception in 1994, the NUPA was formed of multiple different nationalist organisations including its forerunner the National United Front of Arakan, and a faction of the Arakanese Communist Party.

Later, they were transferred to a prison in Kolkata, charged with entering the country without valid papers, for smuggling weapons and explosives, and for attempting to sell them to insurgents in North-Eastern India.

[...] We want to make it known that, the average Arakanese people are peace-loving but the SPDC junta which is overtly Burman-dominated has like its predecessors, the SLORC and BSPP, got down to stir up communal agitation so that the two brotherly communities could be divided.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) arranged a resettlement program for the 31 Arakan and Karen guerrillas who spent 13 years in an Indian prison.

“We were tied up, blindfolded, thrown around, and treated like enemies of the state.” Danya Linn, an ethnic Arakanese leader, said, “Since India is one of the largest democratic countries in the world, we believe that this kind of inhumanity and undemocratic action will never again be repeated.

[1] As documented by the Transnational Institute, another NUPA leader Khin Maung again warned about the potential implication of communal division in Rakhine State at a 2006 peace conference in Bangkok.

Since this relationship plays a crucial part in finding durable solutions in Rakhine State, international agencies should continue monitoring dynamics on the ground, which may be at odds with narratives shared by the top leadership.

As noted by NUPA leaders, and many others since, it is also clear that social cohesion has a distinct vertical component, and international actors should continue to work with authorities to address divisive policies.