Arakan State News Summary (November 1-7, 2021)

By DMG 07 Nov 2021

1 November

• Basic education schools in Arakan State and across most of the country, which were closed for more than three months due to the third wave of Covid-19, reopened in accordance with virus-related regulations.
• The Myanmar junta promulgated a law amending the Television and Radio Broadcasting Law for a second time.
• The Department of Public Health began administering the Covid-19 vaccine to students above 12 years of age from private and monastic education schools in Arakan State.
• The All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) issued a statement saying it would join anti-junta forces to fight for an end to dictatorship in Myanmar, with the announcement made on the 33rd anniversary of the ABSDF’s founding.
• The case of five Kyaukseik villagers in Ponnagyun Township, who were arrested on suspicion of having links with the Arakan Army (AA) and charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, was further delayed due to the absence of a prosecution witness.
• Arakan political parties, civil society organisations and residents criticised the recent holding of pro-military rallies in Arakan State.
• The Three Brotherhood Alliance, an ethnic armed group coalition that includes the Arakan Army, released a statement condemning the actions of the Myanmar military against the Chin State town of Thantlang, where more than 100 homes and two churches burnt down in a recent Tatmadaw shelling.

2 November

• Youths in Arakan State have been collecting donations for the victims of a large fire in Thantlang town, Chin State, that was reportedly set by the Myanmar military in late October.
• Recent pro-military rallies in Arakan State raised eyebrows as hundreds of participants attended the demonstrations, seemingly in contravention of Covid-19 regulations that limit the size of public gatherings to no more than 100 people.

3 November

• A letter was sent to junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing seeking approval for the return of internally displaced people (IDPs) to Tinma village in Kyauktaw Township, according to the village abbott.
• A pregnant woman in Buthidaung Township died of Covid-19 and multiple members of her family were also found to be infected with the virus.
• To curb rising palm oil prices in Arakan State, a total of 40,491 visses of the edible oil were bought under a state regime council plan, according to the chairman of the Arakan State Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
• Two women and a 17-year-old girl in Thandwe Township were arrested on suspicion of ties to the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF) and were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law.
• There have been three rape cases and five attempted rapes in IDP camps in Arakan State over the past three years, according to figures compiled by the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC).

4 November

• The Shwe Min Thar Foundation said it would provide people with disabilities in Sittwe and Ponnagyun townships with food and medicines for four months.
• The cost of repairing the pillars and roof of the Mahamuni Buddha Image in Kyauktaw Township was estimated at K500 million.
• Three people were killed and seven others were injured in fire-related accidents across Arakan State’s 17 townships from January to October of this year, according to the state’s Department of Fire Services.
• A joint squad consisting of military, police and Forest Department personnel conducted a five-day patrol to protect the Wunbaik reserved mangrove forest (WRMF), Asia’s second-largest mangrove forest, in Ramree Township, Arakan State.
• The production of salt in Arakan State will undergo changes this year aimed at modernising the industry, DMG reported.

5 November

• An anticipated verdict in the long-running trial of more than 20 Lekka villagers in Mrauk-U Township, who were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law in 2019, went undelivered on Friday.
• A decision was made at a meeting of the chief minister, military commander and ministers of the Arakan State Administration Council to urge leaders of traditional zat pwe troupes in Arakan State to abide by the Covid-19 rules.
• The Sittwe border trade centre processed goods worth about US$1.36 million in the approximately two weeks since it reopened, according to the Arakan State Chamber of Commerce and Industry, following an extended closure due to Covid-19.
• A truck overturned near Taung Sauk village in Ann Township, killing two men on board.
• Most students at Arakan State’s largest monastic school, Palay Yadanar in Thandwe, have not yet received the Covid-19 vaccine, according to school officials.
• The Peace Process Steering Team, representing the 10 ethnic armed group signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), issued a statement condemning military conduct since the February coup d’état, which the PPST said has targeted public property and religious buildings.

6 November

• Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to more than 600 inmates in prisons in Arakan State, according to the state’s Department of Public Health.
• More than 300 internally displaced people (IDPs) who had been taking refuge in the town of Ann returned home, according to a camp official.
• Six people in Arakan State who allegedly cast ballots more than once in Myanmar’s general election on November 8, 2020, have been prosecuted, according to the state’s election subcommission and sources close to the accused.
• The military council is working on a Covid-19 vaccination programme to reopen universities and colleges soon, with more than 3,000 students in Arakan State registered to receive the vaccine.

7 November

• A group of local people held a candlelight festival at Lay Myet Hna Pagoda in Mrauk-U to celebrate the 43^rd birthday of Maj-Gen Twan Mrat Naing, commander-in-chief of the Arakan Army (AA).
• There was significant damage after a fire broke out at a middle school in Kadoeseik village, Buthidaung Township.
• Entry and exit archways in the ancient city of Mrauk-U will be built with works from the four dynastic eras of Arakan — Danyawaddy, Vesali, Laymyo and Mrauk-U — according to the township development committee.
• More than 200 people visited the Buddhist and Cultural Museum in Sittwe, which had been closed for more than a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in the first week since reopening on October 28.