Arakan State News Summary (December 15-23, 2022)

By DMG 23 Dec 2022

15 December

• Myanmar’s military regime granted K10 billion from national economic development funds for development works in Arakan State, according to a message sent by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing for the 48th anniversary of Arakan State Day.
• Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State suffering from chronic illnesses are in need of better healthcare services, the afflicted and their advocates said. 
• Zaychuang Creek, near the central market in Minbya Township, is getting shallow and clogged due to littering. The creek is a tributary of the Leymyo River (known locally as the Yar Maung River), and flows through urban wards from the market to Kin Seik Ward, stretching about a mile.  

 16 December

• Family members said they had not been in contact with a social activist from Arakan State’s Taungup Township since his arrest by the military on November 8. Ko Zeyar Kyaw, 47, was arrested by four junta soldiers in a civilian vehicle near Taungup’s U Ottama Park and had not been seen or heard from since.
• Nineteen ward and village administrators from the Kutaung area, located in the southern part of Rathedaung Township, reportedly tendered resignation letters to the township administrator’s office, saying they are facing difficulties in their work between the military and the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA).
• Lengthy power outages are fueling demand for charcoal and firewood in Arakan State, according to sellers. Previously, it was predominantly households without access to electricity that bought charcoal and firewood, but households in urban areas are now also reportedly buying charcoal and firewood now. 

17 December

• The Mrauk-U branch of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum is checking over heritage buildings and artefacts in the Mrauk-U ancient cultural zone to prepare for a field visit by UNESCO experts.
• The Arakan State Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will visit markets to control the sale of foods flagged by the FDA head office as unsuitable for human consumption. The Arakan State FDA will check if those brands are still sold in markets and take legal action against shop owners who continue to sell those brands.
• Residents from Thae Khon village on Myay Ngu Island in Pauktaw Township said about 30 villagers are suffering from diarrhoea after drinking seawater. Thae Khon Village has, for years, suffered from annual shoreline erosion that imposes a heavy financial burden on villagers and threatens the very existence of the settlement.  

18 December

• Inmates detained in various prisons across Arakan State have not reportedly been allowed to meet their families despite there being almost no Covid-19 infections in the state.
• Some farmers in Paletwa Township, Chin State, are facing further declines in paddy yields due to rice-field rats eating and destroying their crops, exacerbating challenges already posed by climate change and armed conflict.
• More than 70 out of approximately 90 junta-appointed ward and village administrators in Ponnagyun Township — where the military and Arakan Army fought some of their fiercest battles during recent renewed fighting — tendered resignation letters in November.  

19 December

• Two local ethnic Mro men from Shwetaung Village, part of Maungdaw Township, were reportedly killed after they went to a local mountain range to cut down bamboo.
• Myanmar’s military regime opened an additional case against a rice mill owner from Kyauktaw Township for allegedly abetting mutiny, after initially charging him under Article 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act for his alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA), according to court sources and relatives. 
• Local residents in Sittwe have expressed concerns about the fire risk posed by roadside petrol pumps. Roadside petrol pumps have proliferated across the Arakan State capital in response to frequent fuel shortages over recent months at official filling stations. 

20 December

• Junta troops stationed near the Maha Myat Muni Buddha Image and pagoda in Kyauktaw Township let loose a burst of gunfire despite the military’s ceasefire with the Arakan Army (AA), panicking local people.
• A dried fish manufacturing collective in Chaungwa Village, Pauktaw Township, that uses solar energy to dry fish is struggling due to lack of market, according to villagers. 
• Myanmar’s military regime will conduct a population census starting January 9 of next year in townships across Arakan State in order to facilitate the compiling of voter lists, according to the Arakan State Administration Council (ASAC).
• The bodies of two Muslim men who were trampled to death by a wild elephant were found near Ngakyitauk Village, Buthidaung Township, according to locals. 

21 December

• A historical photo exhibition of Arakanese resistance leaders was organised by the Arakan Liberation Party in Sittwe’s Mingan Ward. 
• Locals are facing difficulties as junta soldiers at a security checkpoint near Kyauktalone Pagoda in Kyaukphyu are conducting lengthy inspections of emergency patients whose health and often lives are on the line. 
• Some 180 internally displaced people (IDPs) taking shelter at a camp in Kanhtaunggyi town, Myebon Township, have been forced to make beds out of tarpaulin sheets and sleep on the ground, according to camp officials. 

22 December

• The well-known Arakanese composer Ko Doe Maung died at the age of 77. Ko Doe Maung composed several songs still popular with Arakanese audiences today.
• A factory manufacturing coconut derivatives in Manaung Township is suffering from a shortage of its most critical raw material: coconuts. The Manaung Yadanar Co. factory has had difficulties acquiring coconuts because merchants are offering good prices for coconuts produced in Manaung, Ramree and Taungup townships for export to Bangladesh.
• Myanmar’s military regime is selling foods and consumer goods to the public in some Arakan State townships including Sittwe, Ann, Taungup and Gwa, but few locals are buying from the regime, according to residents.
• The bodies of three people from the same family were found in Kulabar Village, Kyaukphyu Township. The three of them reportedly fell into the stream and drowned while going to water in the orchard beside the creek outside their village. 

23 December

• Farmers suffering from the impacts of military conflict, displacement, climate change and high prices for inputs like fertiliser and fuel this year are struggling to repay their agricultural loans.
• Heavy weapons and small arms fire were reported along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in the northern part of Maungdaw Township, according to locals. Bangladeshi authorities may have been conducting military exercises, locals said.
• Myanmar will start exporting 160,000 tonnes of rice to Bangladesh this month, according to the Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF). The rice to be exported from Myanmar to Bangladesh is planned to be transported from Yangon’s Sule Port, Pathein Port in Ayeyarwaddy Region and Arakan State’s Sittwe Port.
• Ko Zeyar Kyaw, a 47-year-old resident of Taungup who had been detained by the military for more than a month, was released. He had been held at the Myanmar military’s No. 5 Military Operations Command headquarters in Taungup for 45 days.