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

By DMG 15 May 2022

8 May

• An order was issued by local police to remove homes and shops built in the airport area and former departmental office space in Ann Township.
• The Arakan State military council imposed restrictions on the supply of rice to Dar Lat Chaung village-tract in Ann Township, local residents said.
• Myanmar military inspections have become increasingly frequent in Arakan State villages of late, according to residents, who say the surprise visits are unnerving locals.
• According to the Arakan State Salt Entrepreneurs’ Association, the acreage of raw salt in the state will be reduced by 50 percent in 2022, compared with last year.
• Junta soldiers searched for village officials affiliated with the United League of Arakan (ULA), the political wing of the Arakan Army (AA), in Sar Pyin village, Taungup Township. 

9 May

• At least six ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) had by Monday officially rejected the peace dialogue proposed by junta chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, who last month invited EAO leaders for talks to end Myanmar’s long-running civil war.
• A fire broke out at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the compound of Mahamuni Pagoda in Kyauktaw, damaging or destroying 262 homes and leaving hundreds of IDPs in need of emergency relief aid.
• The Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Chin National Front (CNF) issued a joint statement urging Myanmar’s military junta to include all stakeholders in its proposed peace dialogue if it is to find a solution to the country’s political crisis. 

10 May

• Muslim students have been allowed to attend Sittwe University as day students as of this year after they were banned from the university for a decade. Arakanese students described it as a new step toward improving ties between the Arakanse and Muslim communities.
• A large portion of makeshift shelters in Arakan State’s camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) have been constructed of little more than tarpaulins and nipa palm leaves, with IDPs demanding that damaged homes in particular be repaired before the rainy season arrives in earnest.
• The Myanmar junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) suspended the Democratic Party for Myanmar New Society (DPMNS) as a political party for one year, alleging that the party failed to submit to an order from the election body to have the party’s finances audited.
• Exports of peanuts and sesame, excluding black sesame, were temporarily suspended from the Myawaddy trade zone to Thailand, according to the junta-controlled Ministry of Commerce.
• Military regime spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun chided ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) that have so far refused to attend peace talks proposed by junta chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing last month. 

11 May

• The Arakan State Consumer Affairs Department again warned shops against selling tainted meatballs and sausages, urging consumers to report to the department when they see shops selling dubious meats that fit the description.
• Authorities have said new houses will be built this year for the relocation of internally displaced people (IDPs) from Kyauktalone displacement camp in Kyaukphyu Township.
• Traders say there have been delays in the flow of goods due to a requirement that some goods shipped into Arakan State first receive permission from the Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs.
• More than 30 IDPs living in the Nyaung Chaung displacement camp in Kyauktaw Township have no land to live on. 

12 May

• Local farmers in Manaung Township said peanuts have been damaged due to incessant rains since the beginning of this month.
• Locals in Kyaukphyu Township are concerned about possible flooding during the rainy season after the bank of a diverted creek eroded recently due to rains.
• Myanmar’s military regime has limited the supply of palm oil to the market due to declining stocks.
• As the price of fuel continues to rise, bus fares running from Arakan State to Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw and other townships are reportedly increasing.
• Even as junta leader Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing invites Myanmar’s ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) to renewed peace talks, the regime has stepped up its arrests of civilians on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) in recent months.
• Following in his predecessors’ footsteps, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing blamed external interference for instability in Myanmar.
• A doctor and his wife allegedly beat a female nurse at Ceditaung rural hospital in Buthidaung Township.
• More than half of the students at Sittwe University launched a blue ribbon campaign to end racial discrimination. 

13 May

• A list of university students who will receive their third (booster) dose of the Covid-19 vaccine is being compiled, according to a Sittwe University official.
• The Matupi District Court accepted the appeal of Ko Tin Tun Aung, a man from Chin State’s Paletwa Township who was sentenced to three years in prison for incitement.
• The junta’s Ministry of Health has required all those who have graduated from universities of medicine in 2020 and 2021 to work at public hospitals. 

14 May

• The court will deliver a final verdict in the case against Ko Han Myo Thurein, who has been charged with incitement under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, at the next hearing, according to a lawyer involved.
• An Arakan National Party (ANP) central committee meeting was held in Gwa Township, to discuss internal affairs and strengthen the influential Arakanese political party.
• An ancient sitting Buddha stone sculpture was unearthed near Pyuma Creek, about one mile from the village of Kyar Nat Kan in Kyauktaw Township.
• Jellyfish catchers have been operating in Mye Ngu Island, Pauktaw Township, since the end of this year’s Thingyan festival, and business owners are worried that they will not be able to sell the marine products at a good price. 

15 May

• An elderly man was killed in a landmine explosion near Thaboh Zarphet village in Minbya Township, according to family members of the victim.
• Twenty-four local youth organisations, including the Arakan Students’ Union, issued a joint statement condemning the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP)’s participation in the peace talks being organised by the military junta.
• The Arakan Army (AA) warned that clashes could take place at any time in Arakan State due to growing military tensions between it and Myanmar’s military regime.
• Local people in Dar Lat Chaung village, Ann Township, said they are struggling to make ends meet because they have to pay K40,000 for a bag of rice since the Myanmar military imposed restrictions on rice supply into the area.
• A Myanmar military helicopter carrying food was fired upon while landing in Paletwa, Chin State.