Arakan State News Summary (August 16-22, 2022)

By DMG 22 Aug 2022

16 August

• The Arakan National Council/Arakan Army (ANC/AA) and Arakan Liberation Party/Arakan Liberation Army (ALP/ALA) rejected recent remarks from the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) spokesman, in which he asserted that there was no need for revolutionary armed forces in Arakan State other than the AA.
• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year could have the unintended side effect of delaying the decision on a bid to have the ancient Arakanese city of Mrauk-U designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to the Department of Archaeology and National Museum.
• Local farmers in Magyitaw and Ahmaw villages on Taungup Township’s Pantin Island said they’ve been unable to cultivate paddy on dozens of acres of farmland damaged by seawater.
• Local people in Maungdaw Township are concerned about possible food shortages as the Myanmar military has blocked off the main road linking the township with state capital Sittwe following fighting with the Arakan Army (AA).
• Some urban residential areas in Kyaukphyu were inundated with floodwaters, with residents being evacuated to safer locations due to continuous rains. 

17 August

• The body of a girl who was stabbed to death in a shop near the government office in Sittwe was cremated at Sittwe Cemetery.
• Burglaries were reported in Kyauktaw and Maungdaw townships, with the wife of one homeowner attacked in the incident.
• Food prices have shot up in Chin State’s Paletwa more than two weeks after the military regime blocked waterways linking Paletwa and neighbouring Kyauktaw, which Paletwa heavily relies upon for food supplies and other goods.
• Kyaukphyu experienced record-setting rainfall, according to an official from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, amid reports of widespread flooding in the town.
• The UN special envoy Noeleen Heyzer “called for immediate and specific de-escalation steps including ending aerial bombing and the burning of civilian houses and infrastructure,” according to a statement issued by Heyzer following her discussions with the regime leader. 

18 August

• The department of Inland Water Transport instructed ferry services operating in Arakan State to suspend operations from August 18-20 due to forecasts predicting dangerous conditions brought on by a depression and cyclonic circulation off the coast of Arakan State.
• Family members have not been allowed to see four men from northern Maungdaw Township, including a village administrator and a village in-charge, who were arrested by the Myanmar military about a month ago.
• Junta security forces conducted searches for overnight guests in some apartments at the Shwe Pyi Tha low-cost housing in Sittwe’s Sat Yoe Kya ward, according to residents.\
• Maung Min Aung Khaing, 17, and Maung Naing Myo Tun, 18, from Pauktawpyin village in Ponnagyun Township were charged with four counts by the Myanmar military. 

19 August

• More than 1,500 residents of six villages in Rathedaung Township fled to safer locations after the Myanmar military clashed with the Arakan Army (AA) recently.
• A United Nations official in Myanmar used the occasion of World Humanitarian Day, marked annually on August 19, to call for “an end to the unrelenting violence that is terrifying communities and making these brave humanitarian efforts necessary” in the country, which has seen hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced since the military’s February 2021 coup.
• Twenty-five Muslims were arrested in the Arakan State town of Ngapali, according to a police officer on duty from the Thandwe police station.
• Rising fuel prices have forced local small-scale fisheries in Arakan State to halt their operations, creating hardships for many fishing families.
• The military council allowed the Paletwa-Kyauktaw waterway to resume operations starting from August 1, but the loading of some goods, including rice, was still restricted. 

20 August

• Express boat lines in Arakan State resumed operations after they were instructed to suspend their routes on August 18 due to inclement weather off the Arakan coast.
• Five prosecution witnesses including the plaintiff have been examined in the case of a man and woman in Kyaukphyu charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code for allegedly raising funds for the Arakan Army (AA), according to family members.
• Local residents have called for reopening the road linking Ponnagyun and Rathedaung, which has been closed by Myanmar’s military regime for more than two months.
• Police barred the Metta Yaungchi Foundation, a charitable organisation in Sittwe, from collecting donations to provide emergency support for displaced people who have fled their homes due to fighting in Arakan State over recent weeks.
• As the price of fuel has increased, social organisations in various townships of Arakan State are facing financial difficulties to purchase fuel and are facing difficulties in being able to sustain themselves in the long term. 

21 August

• Drivers in Arakan State say that continuous increases in the price of fuel make it difficult to earn a living wage.
• Health officials are recommending the use of a drug called PrEP to prevent the spread of HIV, which attacks the immune system and can be fatal.
• A petition by nine teacher assistants seeking reinstatement to the jobs that they were suspended from in Kyauktaw Township has not changed anything for them more than two months after they submitted it for consideration.
• Many homes in Arakan State that were destroyed by fire during armed conflict between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) have yet to be rebuilt, according to homeowners. 

22 August

• The state lottery market is collapsing in Arakan State, according to ticket sellers. Sales have declined by half since the military coup last year, and are falling further, say sellers.
• The Myanmar military has reportedly told local village administrators to facilitate the removal of security checkpoints set up by the Arakan Army (AA) in Rathedaung Township’s Pyarchaunggyi village-tract.
• The price of construction materials, which Arakan State mainly sources from Yangon and Mandalay, has increased by between 30% and 40% compared with last year.
• The Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) clashed in Maungdaw Township and Chin State’s Paletwa Township, according to locals, the latest hostilities to be reported in a region beset by conflict over recent weeks.
• Locals in Maungdaw Township are facing food shortages as Myanmar’s military regime has blocked off supply routes and restricted regional travel since August 14, following fighting between junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA).