Arakan State News Summary (June 23-30, 2022)

By DMG 30 Jun 2022

23 June

• The Arakan Army (AA) said the Myanmar military’s arrest of civilians in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships undermines trust between the two sides.
• Two kidnapped educators from Maungdaw who were abducted more than a week earlier were returned to Arakan State after being briefly held for questioning by Bangladeshi authorities following their release from captivity.
• The military detained at least 15 residents in Sittwe after the Arakan Army detained a captain and a private in the Arakan State capital.
• Some IDPs living near the Yan Aung Myay displacement camp in Buthidaung Township are worried about landslides due to frequent mudslides near the IDP camp.
• The civilian death toll attributed to the military coup on February 1, 2021, surpassed 2,000, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said in a statement.
• The military detained nine Muslims who came to Sittwe from Hngetchaung IDP camp in Pauktaw Township to sell rice. 

24 June

• Two underage Muslim youths from Paungtoke village in Mrauk-U Township were arrested by the military on June 22, and bad not yet been released two days later.
• The Arakan Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Association (AHRDPA) said in a statement that the military’s arbitrary arrests of civilians in Arakan State were a clear violation of human rights.
• Myanmar’s junta had detained at least 20 people in Sittwe as of June 24, including the administrator of Anauk Sanpya ward, after the Arakan Army detained two Myanmar military personnel in the Arakan State capital.
• The military reportedly arrested two residents of Muyin village in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township on suspicion of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army. 

25 June

• The Shwe Pyi Tan ferryboat service suspended its operations across Arakan State until further notice as the regime was conducting extensive searches and made several arrests following the abduction of two junta soldiers earlier in the week.
• Residents of Rathedaung Township are having to repair the local Zedipyin-Maw Htet bridge with their own money after the military regime refused to fund the fixes.
• Residents in the Arakan State capital Sittwe voiced concern over the potential proliferation of counterfeit banknotes after the recent discovery of K350,000 in bogus bills.
• The United League of Arakan/Arakan Army released a list of innocent civilians arrested by the military in Sittwe on June 23 and 24. 

26 June

• Diesel prices have risen sharply since the military seized power in February 2021, this week hitting around K500 more per litre than the price of petrol.
• Myanmar citizens undertaking international travel can apply for electronic Covid-19 vaccination certificates in English, according to the military regime’s Ministry of Health.
• The Arakan Army released U San Lin Aung, 45, an officer from the Directorate of Industrial Supervision and Inspection, and U Zaw Tun Hein, 38, a private tuition teacher from Rathedaung Township, on June 26, three days after they were detained for questioning, the ethnic armed group said. 

27 June

• Townships in northern Arakan State have recently been subjected to strict military inspections, making it difficult for locals to travel, according to locals.
• The number of people killed or injured by landmines while searching for food in forests has increased in Arakan State, with more and more internally displaced people (IDPs) being forced to forage lately due to food shortages at their displacement camps.
• Family members are worried about the safety of people recently arrested by the Myanmar military in Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships because they have not been allowed to meet the detainees, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
• The Arakan Army says the Myanmar military had recently detained 32 innocent civilians from Sittwe, Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships. 

28 June

• The Arakan Army said the military had arrested 40 residents in Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun and Sittwe townships amid ongoing military tensions with the ethnic armed group.
• Some local residents in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have complained that the township electricity office has been wrongly charging them for electricity units that they did not use.
• Family members say that since their loved ones’ re-arrests last month, they have not been in contact with the two village administrators from Sittwe Township.
• There were 377 cases of dengue fever reported in Arakan State this year from January 1 to June 26, according to a source from the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH). 

29 June

• There had been no electricity in much of Chin State’s Paletwa Township for three days due to a prolonged power outage, according to locals.
• The Palay Yadanar monastic education school in Thandwe Township is in need of financial assistance as the number of students increased by about 200 this year, according to school officials.
• More than 20 children under the age of 5 living in the Wah Taung displacement camp in Kyauktaw Township are suffering from diarrhoea, according to camp officials.
• More than 80 percent of basic education students had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine as of June 29, according to the Arakan State Education Office. 

30 June

• Five locals from Kyaukseik village in Ponnagyun Township have been detained for more than two years, but no ruling has yet been delivered by the court.
• Thirty-five people, most of them children, from the Nyaungchaung camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyauktaw Township are suffering from skin problems, according to a camp official.
• Of three men from Sittwe’s Danyawady Ward who were arrested by the Myanmar military, U Maung Aye and U Hla Thein Aung were sentenced to one month in prison by a court.