Arakan State News Summary (July 8-15, 2022)

By DMG 15 Jul 2022

8 July
• A Kyauktaw resident detained by Myanmar’s military regime and charged under the Penal Code’s Section 505(b) for incitement reportedly required hospitalisation due to high blood pressure.
• A corpse bound with rope was found washed ashore in the Pauktaw Township village of Thae Khone, according to residents.
• Two Muslim teenage boys from Paungtoke village in Mrauk-U Township were injured in a landmine explosion.
• Myanmar’s military coup and the pandemic led 220,000 garment workers to lose their jobs, 95% of whom are women, according to a statement from the Delegation of the European Union to Myanmar.
• A 9-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her sister’s husband in Chaung Thone Khwa village, Taungup Township.
9 July
• The National League for Democracy (NLD) rejected plans by Myanmar’s military regime to hold a redo general election next year.
• A man from Mrauk-U Township, who was arrested on suspicion of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army, was sentenced to three years in prison under Section 52(a) of the Counter Terrorism Law by the Sittwe District Court, according to family members and his lawyer.
• Myanmar recorded its first cases of the latest Covid-19 variant of concern, with the junta’s Ministry of Health saying it has stepped up efforts to prevent and contain coronavirus infections.
• Tightened junta security checks on supply routes are severely disrupting and delaying the flow of goods into Arakan State, Arakanese merchants complained.
• The Myanmar military reportedly filed lawsuits against 18 out of more than 30 people it has detained in a handful of Arakan State townships over recent weeks.
• A Grade 8 student from Kazukaing village in Ann Township was killed in a landmine explosion, according to family members of the victim.
• The Arakan Army released eight Muslims arrested in Buthidaung Township in an effort to strengthen ties between the two communities.

10 July
• Signboards erected in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, instructing people to dispose of their garbage properly, were recently destroyed by vandals, according to an official from the Sittwe Development Affairs Committee.
• Villagers in Ahmaw and Kanpein villages on Pantin Island, Taungup Township, said that nearly 80 acres of farmland belonging to local villagers had been damaged by seawater.
• Overhead cables that run alongside a bridge spanning the Swun Ye River on the Pauktaw-Minbya road in Arakan State continue to sag dangerously low to the water, posing a danger to those who travel via the river.
• The writing of an Arakanese spelling book is about 90 percent complete, but funds are still needed to publish the book.

11 July
• The Arakan Front Party (AFP) released a statement urging the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army to take problem-solving approaches to deescalate ongoing tensions between the two sides.
• The Arakan Army (AA) pinned blame for a rolling toll of civilian landmine casualties in Arakan State on explosive devices planted by the Myanmar military.
• Residents in Kyaukphyu Township called on authorities to repair as soon as possible the Kyaukphyu-Yenandwein road, a crucial trunk road for 21 villages in the township.
• The Arakan Army (AA) said it would not tolerate the kidnapping of civilians in Arakan State, and would take measures to ensure that the recent kidnapping of two educators from Maungdaw Township is the first and last of its kind.
• A spokesman for the Arakan Army (AA) confirmed that the ethnic armed group arrested the manager of the Global Treasure Bank branch in Kyauktaw.
• Myanmar has recorded its first cases of the latest Covid-19 variant of concern, with the junta’s Ministry of Health saying it has stepped up efforts to prevent and contain coronavirus infections.
• The Muslim religious holiday of Eid al-Adha was celebrated, led by Muslim students, together with Arakanese tribes and civil society organisations.
• The Arakan Army provided clothing to about 450 impoverished people from 22 Muslim villages to mark Eid al-Adha.

12 July
• Arakan Army (AA) spokesman U Khaing Thukha said efforts are being made to end a decade of tensions between Muslims and Arakanese in Arakan State, where the ethnic armed group has taken an increasingly influential role in everyday governance across much of the state.
• Locals in five nearby villages have complained of loud noises emanating from Hong Kong-based VPower Group’s combined-cycle power plant near Gantgawdaw Pagoda in Kyaukphyu Township.
• Three passenger vessels donated by Japan have temporarily suspended operations in Arakan State, according to sources close to the Department of Inland Water Transport.
• Police arrested a man and two women with counterfeit banknotes in their possession near the village of Mee Chaung Hto, Taungup Township, following a tipoff, reported Rakhine Daily, an Arakan State media outlet affiliated with Myanmar’s military regime.

13 July
• U Khaing Thukha, spokesman for the Arakan Army (AA) confirmed that six locals from Palatwa Township, Chin State, were arrested by the ethnic armed group.
• Local residents said an unexploded torpedo was found washed ashore near Mein Ma Kywe village, Manaung Township, little more than a week after the Myanmar military reported conducting naval exercises off the coast of Arakan State.
• Shipments of goods such as cement, fertiliser and rice from Sittwe to Arakan State townships are allowed only with the permission of the Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs, it was reported.
• Three people including the political and social activist Ko Zaw Win aka Ludu Zaw Win, who were charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, appeared before a Kyauktaw court, according to family members.
• A resident of Kanpyin village in Taungup Township was reportedly forced into hiding as the Myanmar military raided his home.
• IDPs in Arakan State are facing difficulties because they do not receive food support from the state military council, said the managers of IDP camps.

14 July
• The Ponnagyun-Rathedaung road, which was closed in mid-June amid military tensions between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), has not been reopened yet, leading to difficulties for transporters and local residents.
• Soaring food prices in the aftermath of Myanmar’s February 2021 military coup are taking a heavy toll, particularly on low-income families, in the country.
• Thae Khon village on Myay Ngu Island in Pauktaw Township has, for years, suffered from annual shoreline erosion that imposes a heavy financial burden on villagers and threatens the very existence of the settlement, according to local residents.
• A shortage of rice and other foodstuffs was reported at Pelpadon IDP camp in Ward No. 3 of Ann town, and displaced camp residents are having to buy provisions from acquaintances through a credit system, according to a camp official.
• Family members said they were worried about the health of the political and social activist Ko Zaw Win aka Ludu Zaw Win, who was charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, as he is suffering from eye pain.
• The 76-year-old composer and singer U Maung Kyawtha, who wrote and sang classic Arakanese songs, passed away.
• The Ministry of Economy and Commerce announced that the military junta is planning to donate 1,000 tonnes of rice to Sri Lanka, which is facing an economic crisis.

15 July
• Despite the cessation of active hostilities between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State, casualties from landmines have risen in recent months, with rural residents particularly vulnerable and calls growing for the military council to clear the deadly remnants of past conflict.
• A local official warned that people who gather and drink alcohol at U Ottama Park in the Arakan State town of Kyaukphyu will be monitored and punished starting this month.
• A large proportion of illegal timber seized in Arakan State this year is from other parts of Myanmar, according to the Arakan State Forest Department.
• The Matupi District Court in Chin State postponed delivering a final ruling in the appeal of Ko Tin Tun Aung, a resident of neighbouring Paletwa Township who has been sentenced to three years in prison for incitement.
• Six Ponnagyun Township residents detained and charged with incitement under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code were brought to trial respectively at the Ponnagyun Township Court and a Sittwe Prison tribunal.
• Fuel prices remain high in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships, despite gas stations having been ordered to bring down their selling prices, according to local residents.