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

By DMG 22 Jun 2022

16 June

• A primary school principal and a female schoolteacher from Thinbawhla village in Maungdaw Township went missing.
• The military-led Ministry of Electricity and Energy said the construction of a combined cycle power plant near Gantgawdaw Pagoda in Kyaukphyu Township is slated for completion in May 2023.
• The Myanmar regime has waived mandatory Covid-19 tests for fully vaccinated international travelers who come to Myanmar on commercial flights, according to the regime’s Ministry of Health.
• A junta court in Kyaukphyu Township imposed a fine on a local activist for violating the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law.
• The Arakan Army (AA) detained a junta soldier near the Sanpya ward administration office in Ponnagyun Township, with the regime subsequently arresting multiple local residents. 

17 June

• A couple from Thazigon village in Rathedaung Township were injured in a landmine explosion, according to the villagers.
• With the results of the matriculation examination out on Friday, 19,729 of 41,775 students who sat for the test in Arakan State passed, and the pass rate was 47.25 percent, according to the Department of Examinations.
• Members of the Arakan Army (AA) detained a policeman from a police outpost in Tinnyo village in Mrauk-U Township, according to locals.
• A student from Kontan village, Rathedaung Township, died by suicide, consuming rat poison after failing the 2022 matriculation exam. 

18 June

• Junta soldiers took about 10 sidecar drivers and passersby in Myothit ward and Aye Cedi ward in Ponnagyun Township.
• The Arakan Army (AA) does not intend to object to the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project being implemented by the Myanmar and Indian governments if it will benefit the Arakanese people.
• Two friends in Thandwe Township were drinking and arguing when one stabbed the other to death and buried his body, according to family members.
• Daw Ma Aye Phyu, 69, was found dead alone in her home in Min Phu village, Minbya Township, with stab wounds to her left ear and neck, and some of her jewelry and money missing.
• A delegation led by the Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar met with a group of traders led by the Rakhine State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RSCCI) in Sittwe to boost trade between the two countries. 

19 June

• A rice distribution programme funded by Japan’s Nippon Foundation, and targeting internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ann Township was suspended due to lack of permission from the township Disaster Management Department and the General Administration Department.
• Mud crabs and crayfish without white-spot syndrome virus (WSSV) have been allowed to re-export from Arakan State to China, according to the state’s Fisheries Department.
• The Myanmar military reportedly blocked the Ponnagyun-Rathedaung road after the Arakan Army detained a junta soldier on June 16, causing difficulties for travellers, transporters and locals.
• More than 71 percent of basic education students had received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination as of June 19, according to the Arakan State Education Office. 

20 June

• After a school principal and a teacher were kidnapped by a group of unknown men, the spokesman for the regime’s Arakan State Administration Council said he had no knowledge of any developments in the case.
• Two women from a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Paletwa Township, Chin State, were injured in a landmine blast.
• Arakan Army (AA) spokesman U Khaing Thukha confirmed that the ethnic armed group has detained junta soldiers in retaliation for the regime’s arrest of AA members.
• Internally displaced people (IDPs) driven from their homes by past military conflict in Arakan State — and kept in displacement camps by fear of renewed hostilities — called for an end to fighting in Myanmar on World Refugee Day, which falls on June 20.
• The Arakan Army detained three policemen from Kyauktaw Myoma police station, according to locals.
• The township judge postponed a final ruling in the appeal of Ko Tin Tun Aung, a resident of Paletwa, Chin State, who was sentenced to three years in prison for incitement, at the next hearing, according to family members. 

21 June

• Schools in urban areas of Kyauktaw were closed after junta soldiers questioned and detained residents across the town. 
• The Myanmar military detained Ko Zaw Win aka Ludu Zaw Win, a political and social activist in Kyauktaw Township.
• The Arakan Army arrested three members of the Myanmar military’s intelligence in Mrauk-U’s Shwegutaung ward, a resident said on condition of anonymity. Following that, around 60 junta soldiers in four military trucks entered downtown Mrauk-U and tightened security checks, the resident added.
• The Arakan Army (AA) called on the people of Arakan State to be wary of the military junta, which it accused of stoking racial and religious tensions in the region following the disappearance and apparent kidnapping of two educators in Maungdaw Township.
• The Myanmar military released four women of more than 20 residents it detained in Kyauktaw Township earlier that day in response to the Arakan Army’s detention of junta soldiers, said residents.
• A man who was transferring money at a bank in Sittwe was found with counterfeit notes, according to the Arakan State military council. 

22 June

• A bridge over the Tanhlwe Creek is being constructed in Myotaung village-tract, Taungup Township, on a self-reliant basis at a cost of K300 million, and donors are still needed.
• Eight basic education schools in Rathedaung Township closed down as staff there showed their dissatisfaction with the regime’s handling of the kidnapping of two teachers in Maungdaw Township.
• Two policemen from Kyauknimaw police outpost in Ramree Township were arrested by a group of seven people, according to local police.