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

By DMG 22 May 2022

16 May 

• Myanmar’s opposition civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) had a virtual meeting, wrote NUG Vice President Duwa Lashi La on his Facebook page.
• An Arakan traditional boat race was held in Ramree Township.
• The Arakan State military council has imposed restrictions on the supply of rice to Dar Lat Chaung village-tract in Ann Township since May 6, according to local residents.
• Three youths from Pyilone Chanthar camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Rathedaung Township were arrested at Pauk Taw Pyin security checkpoint on the Rathedaung-Ponnagyun road. 

17 May 

• A special court inside Mon State’s Kyaikmaraw Prison sentenced the ousted Mon State chief minister, Dr. Aye Zan, to 21 years in prison on nine charges under the Anti-Corruption Law, according to sources close to the court.
• Myanmar junta soldiers searched for officials of the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA), in Tanlwe Ywama town, Taungup District.
• Banyan trees, vines, moss and other plants that can damage pagodas, stupas and other religious structures in the Mrauk-U cultural heritage zone will be removed using chemical herbicides, according to the Mrauk-U branch of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum.
• The military regime’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement has resumed provision of rice to some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State, but other camps have yet to receive supplies from the ministry.
• About 200 homes and shops built in the airport area and former office space for the General Administration Department, a police station and a public hospital are being demolished, locals said. 

18 May 

• The Mahamuni camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyauktaw Township, which lost more than half of its homes in a recent fire, announced that aid will be donated to the fire victims through a committee formed by the military council.
• With the rainy season arriving in Myanmar, five people have died from electrocution in the Arakan State’s capital Sittwe since early May, according to local social organisations.
• Despite recent talks between Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) in exile and the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA), the military is unlikely to open a new front of active hostilities in Arakan State, some political observers told DMG.
• Officials from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) said the country has been devastated by the February 2021 military coup.
• The Arakan National Party (ANP) will hold an emergency conference to find solutions to its internal troubles, with the party forming a committee to prepare for the gathering. 

19 May 

• According to the Sittwe branch of the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank, agricultural loan disbursements in Arakan State will amount to less than last year due to low loan repayment rates, with over K9 billion earmarked for farmers this year.
• A verdict in the case of five men from Kyaukseik village, Ponnagyun Township, and nearby who were detained in 2020 and charged on suspicion of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army (AA) was postponed, according to family members.
• Myanmar junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun challenged the Arakan Army (AA), saying the ethnic armed group’s recent statements seemed intended to provoke a fight.
• Commodity prices have skyrocketed in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, which borders Arakan State, after months-long restrictions on the supply of food and other goods to the town imposed by the Myanmar military regime.
• Peace talks with ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) that have been proposed by junta chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing will continue until a positive outcome is achieved, a spokesperson for the State Administration Council (SAC) told reporters at a press conference in Naypyidaw.
• U Hla Tun, deputy director of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH), told DMG that the monsoon is likely to enter Arakan State in the last week of May. 

20 May 

• Gold prices have increased steadily since the military coup, pushing down demand and increasing local pawning, according to gold shops in the Arakan State capital Sittwe.
• Residents of Chin State’s Paletwa Township are facing severe economic and social hardships due to skyrocketing ferryboat fares when travelling from Paletwa to Kyauktaw in neighbouring Arakan State.
• Residents of Ale Kyun village in Dar Lat Chaung village-tract, Ann Township, were barred from tending to their farms on May 19 and were allowed to return the fields on Friday morning, according to locals.
• A war of words between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakan Army (AA) intensified, with the AA spokesman calling his regime counterpart’s latest remarks “a direct threat” to Arakanese people.
• A local court sentenced two men from Thandwe Township who have been accused of ties to the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF) to three years in prison under the Counter-Terrorism Law, according to a lawyer involved.
• Ko Han Myo Thurein, a 26-year-old man from Jeittaw ward, Ngapali town, who was charged under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, was sentenced to one year in prison by the Thandwe Township court.
• Two detained village administrators in Sittwe Township were released on bail after being charged under the Forest Law, according to family members. 

21 May 

• Locals are worried that fighting could resume in Arakan State as tensions between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) have shown signs of escalating in recent days.
• As of next week, Myanma Railways (MR) in the Arakan State capital Sittwe will add one more coach to the train running between Pyitawthar and Yaychanpyin for the convenience of teachers and students at Sittwe University, according to a MR official.
• Internally displaced people (IDPs) are in need of assistance as displacement camps in Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships were badly damaged by the strong winds swept through Arakan State on May 21.
• Two fishermen from Kyauk Moung village in Pauktaw Township were killed in strong winds, according to locals. The deceased were identified as Ko Nge Maung Chay, 28, and Ko Nu Sein Aun, 25. Ko Maung Than Win, a resident of Kyauk Moung village, told DMG that the two died when their boat capsized on May 21 while fishing in the river east of the village. 

22 May 

• With the aim of promoting modern Arakanese poetry, a poem festival kicked off in the Arakan State town of Rathedaung.
• Residents from Kin Taung village in Taungup Township are worried as the Myanmar military has stationed troops at their village and they are banned from going outside the village from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
• Residents in Ann Township said they were worried about clashes as gunfire was heard at around 10 p.m. on Sunday.
• Residents in the Arakan State capital Sittwe called on authorities to systematically regulate the movement of sand dump trucks in the city.
• Muslim students studying at Sittwe University donated K800,000 to repair houses in the Mahamuni camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) destroyed by a recent fire.