Arakan State News Summary (August 23-31, 2022)

31 Aug 2022

23 August
• The Burmese Women’s Union (BWU), a local civil society organisation, said in a report that since the military seized power in Myanmar, the economy and job opportunities have been bankrupted, robberies have increased, and women have become more insecure.
• Military tensions are escalating day by day and the theatre of war is expanding in Arakan State, the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) said in a statement.
• Shrimp indigenous to Arakan State will be sold at markets in other parts of Myanmar after the test breeding of a local species was successful.

24 August
• The United League of Arakan (ULA) issued a statement saying the Myanmar military, which has been suffering since August 13 fighting in Arakan State and in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, has restricted the movement of people and commodities on the Yaychanpyin-Angumaw-Maungdaw road and the Maungdaw-Kyeinchaung road.
• Palm oil prices reached over K15,000 per viss in some parts of the country as soaring food prices overall continued to take a toll on the Myanmar people.
• A woman from Abaungtha village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, where fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army flared in recent days, was killed in a landmine blast.
• U Tin Htoo Aung, chairman of the Arakan National Network, said there are more than 20 complaints from Arakan State to be resolved due to fraud by brokers who claim to send them to work abroad.

25 August
• A poster campaign aimed at identifying the perpetrator or perpetrators in the case of a young woman who was stabbed to death was launched in the Arakan State capital Sittwe near the government offices.
• Around 1,000 villagers from over 200 households in Chin State’s Paletwa Township have fled to Paletwa town due to recent fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) near Abaungtha village and in the mountains outside of Kyetyetkaing village.
• Some of the more than 50 locals arrested by the Myanmar military were released in July, but the rest were charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, and at least 10 people have not been in contact with their families for weeks.
• A clash broke out between the Myanmar military’s Ngapali-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 55 and the Arakan Army at a location between Chaungthongkhwa and Kyeintaw villages in Taungup Township.
• Traffic police in the Arakan State capital Sittwe began confiscating unlicensed vehicles, according to a traffic police officer.
• The Foreign Ministry of Myanmar’s military regime condemned statements issued by United Nations officials and other international stakeholders on the fifth anniversary of the 2017 Muslim exodus from Arakan State.

26 August
• Hundreds of acres of paddy fields owned by residents of Rathedaung and Maungdaw townships, who have fled their homes due to recent fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), are reported to be damaged.
• War-displaced civilians in Arakan State have called on Myanmar’s military regime not to impose restrictions on local and international organisations providing humanitarian assistance for them.
• A mentally ill man arrested by the Myanmar military is in poor health and undergoing treatment in Sittwe Prison, according to family members.
• The Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) clashed fiercely for hours near the village of Khamaung Seik in northern Maungdaw Township, said local residents.
• The lighting festival to mark the 592nd anniversary of the establishment of the ancient capital city of the Arakan Kingdom Mrauk-U was organised by local youths.

27 August\
• Daw May Tha Sein, 60, was killed when an artillery shell fired by the Myanmar military exploded in Mingyi village, part of Maungdaw Township, locals said.
• Internally displaced people (IDPs) at some displacement camps in Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships are facing food shortages as there is a lack of rice at the camps, according to camp officials.
• Relatives are concerned about the fate of seven Maungdaw Township residents who were abducted by Myanmar’s military regime following clashes between its troops and the Arakan Army (AA).
• The Peace Process Steering Team (PPST) of the ethnic armed organisations that have signed Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) vowed to organise an all-inclusive dialogue aimed at paving the way for establishing a Union based on democracy and federalism.
• Fifty-three Muslims en route to Yangon were arrested in Thandwe Township in recent days, according to police officials from the Thandwe police station.
• The Association of Arakan New Generation (AOANG) organised the Arakan ethnic photo exhibition at Arian Hall on Strand Road in Sittwe from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

28 August
• The Arakan State military plans to disburse K10 billion in loans to farmers and cattle breeders in Arakan State, the state’s Commerce Minister U San Shwe Maung told DMG.
• Mrauk-U Township became the latest flashpoint in escalating hostilities between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakan Army (AA) when the two sides clashed there and three civilians, including a child, were killed.
• In total, an estimated 2,000 locals from Lekka, Buywet Manhyo, Phayargyi, Pauktawpyin, Waithali, Autkantha and a handful of other villages were reportedly displaced by fighting, which lasted about three hours.

29 August
• Three civilians including a child were killed in Mrauk-U Township after junta battalions shelled a village for no apparent reason. The Arakan Army (AA) called the shelling a deliberate attack against civilians.
• Bus lines halted operations in Mrauk-U Township following the fighting, with the suspension also affecting routes connecting Mrauk-U town to the Arakan State capital Sittwe.
• More than 400 ethnic Mro and Daingnet residents of Khamaung Seik village in northern Maungdaw Township, who have been displaced by recent fighting and are currently facing livelihood hardships, some of the internally displaced people (IDPs) told DMG.\
• It has been more than three years since family members visited Ko Zaw Lin Tun and Ko Win Zaw Tun from Kyaukphyu Township, who have been serving life sentences in a Thai prison for allegedly killing two British nationals in 2014.
• Fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army has resumed in Arakan State in recent days, and four civilians were killed and eight others injured in the artillery shelling on August 27 and 29.
• Five Myanmar migrant workers were seriously injured when a gas filling plant exploded in Samut Prakan near Bangkok, Thailand.

30 August
• Trade in the Kanyin Chaung Economic Zone has decreased by 50% as the Myanmar military has blockaded the Angumaw-Maungdaw road in Rathedaung Township since August 13, according to merchants.
• An ethnic Mro man from Tarein village in Maungdaw Township was severely injured in a landmine blast.
• Some buildings within the compound of a Buddhist monastery in Khamaung Seik village, Maungdaw Township, were discovered on fire, according to local residents.
• The Arakan State Consumer Affairs Department is reportedly taking steps to sell cooking oil at reduced prices as soaring commodity and fuel costs continue to strain household budgets in one of Myanmar’s poorest regions.
• Residents of Kin Seik village in Mrauk-U Township who were displaced by a recent artillery shelling are reportedly in need of humanitarian assistance.
• Family members of the victim have called for harsh action against the rapist of a teenage girl who suffers from hearing and speech impairment, and is unable to walk.
• The prime minister of the National Unity Government said the NUG is among several domestic and international actors that are trying to create favourable conditions for the return of Muslims living in Bangladesh after their violent expulsion from Arakan State in 2016-2017.
• Fierce clashes broke out between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army in Rathedaung Township on the evening of August 30, prompting more than 1,000 locals to flee to safer locations.
• The All Arakan Youth Organisations Network (AAYON) called on residents of Arakan State to boycott military-linked products and services.

31 August
• The rate of dengue fever infection in Arakan State is increasing due to the poor drainage system, according to the Department of Public Health (DPH).
• Several villages in northern Maungdaw Township have lost access to phone and mobile internet services, according to locals, with those outages reportedly related to fuel shortages.
• An education employee was reportedly robbed of more than K3 million near the office of the township education officer in Kyauktaw Township.
• The Myanmar military carried out air raids against Arakan Army (AA) outposts along the Mt. Wai Lar range in northern Maungdaw Township, forcing many residents to flee to safer locations.
• The United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA) announced that the perpetrator in the case of a young woman who was stabbed to death had been identified.
• Healthcare services for internally displaced people in some displacement camps in Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships, Arakan State, have gradually weakened, IDPs and camp officials said.
• The Arakan Army occupied a military outpost near Milepost 40 on the Myanmar-Bangladesh in northern Maungdaw Township, the ethnic armed group said in a statement.