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

By DMG 15 Oct 2022

8 October

 The Arakan National Party (ANP) and Arakan Front Party (AFP), two of Arakan State’s most popular and powerful political parties, said they have not yet begun preparing for controversial elections that Myanmar’s military regime plans to hold next year.
 Junta soldiers detained two local men in Chin State’s Paletwa Township and took the pair to the military’s Light Infantry Battalion No. 289 headquarters, residents told DMG.
 Locals in Talai Taung Village, Ann Township, said dozens of residents including the village administrator had gone into hiding as junta soldiers were searching for them.

9 October

 The Pagoda Board of Trustees of Pyi Lone Chan Thar Buddha Image organised a rice offering ceremony at Wingabar Grounds in Sittwe.
 Two men in Sittwe were receiving medical treatment at Sittwe Hospital after they were shot and beaten by Arakan Liberation Army (ALA) personnel.
 A Myanmar military contingent detained four masons from Sanae town in Ramree Township, family members told DMG.

10 October

 The Myanmar military regime’s motor vehicle registration authority has begun issuing licences to about 100 motorbikes daily in the Arakan State capital Sittwe since September 28, according to U Kan Nyunt, director of the Road Transport Administration Department.
 Fatalities were reported as Myanmar military soldiers and police raided a cockfight involving more than 100 people in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, subsequently filing charges against 18 detainees.

11 October

 The Myanmar military arrested three men including a ferryboat owner and charged the trio under Section 19(b) of the National Drug Law for transporting medicines for Nga/Pa Thone cottage hospital in Myebon Township, the accused told DMG.
 Myanmar’s military regime transported four elephants including a so-called white elephant that was born in July from Arakan State’s Taungup to Yangon, according to witnesses.
 Family members said they had not been allowed to meet an employee from the General Administration Department (GAD) and a construction company owner in Thandwe Township who were recently arrested by the military.
 A local man from Ayarshi Ward in Kyaukphyu Township was abducted by a group of people in civilian dress, according to family members of the man.
 A Chinese-backed power plant in Kyaukphyu Township opened, and is currently undergoing a trial run.

12 October

 The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC), during a meeting with Arakan National Party (ANP) officials, warned the party to avoid making one-sided claims in issuing statements on the military situation and fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA).
 Myanmar’s former State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to an additional three years in prison by a special court, according to sources close to the court.
 Myanmar’s military regime has filed a charge against the deputy head of the Minbya Township education office under Section 17(1) of Unlawful Associations Act for allegedly funding the Arakan Army (AA) with money that he is accused of deducting from the salaries of teachers.
 The military regime seized nine boats moored near Min Chaung Bridge in Sittwe, and also detained nine people including some of the owners and helmsmen of those vessels.
 Malaysian authorities raided the Kuala Lumpur office of the Arakan Refugee Relief Committee (ARRC), the main agency assisting Arakanese people in Malaysia, and arrested 20 people including office personnel.

13 October

 With the Myanmar military restricting access to some townships in Arakan State, some villages are facing medical shortages, according to local residents experiencing health challenges.
 At least seven people have died by suicide in Sittwe over the past five months, according to the Shwe Yaung Metta Foundation, a charity based in the Arakan State capital.
 Two homes in Phar Wat Chaung Village, part of Maungdaw Township, were reportedly set on fire, villagers told DMG, with the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) trading accusations over who was responsible for the alleged arson.
 The Myanmar military regime has virtually isolated a village-tract made up of 48 villages in Ann Township, according to locals.

14 October

 The Arakan Front Party (AFP) called for the release of party advisor and former Arakan State lawmaker U Kyaw Lwin, who was detained by unknown men earlier this month.
 A local leader of the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA/AA) in Ann Township died in military custody, according to locals.
 Travel restrictions in Arakan State put in place by Myanmar’s military regime amid renewed fighting with the Arakan Army have nearly brought border trade with Bangladesh via Maungdaw to a complete halt, according to border traders.
 The Myanmar military reportedly detained two brothers in Paletwa, Chin State, on October 13 and 14, according to family members.
 Three businessmen in Taungup Township were detained by the Myanmar military, according to local residents. The detainees have been identified as U Kyaw Yin, 60, an owner of Kyel Yadanar Jewelry in Kanpai Ward; U Kyan Aung, 60, owner of a mobile phone shop in Kanpai Ward; and U Than Ngwe Kyi, 53, owner of a construction materials shop in Chaungkauk Ward.

15 October

 Two members of the Garuna Network, a local charity in Maungdaw, were arrested by the Myanmar military at around 11 p.m. on October 14 and one of them was reportedly released the next day.
 Concern is growing over the fate of seven Sittwe residents whose families have not heard from them since they were detained by the Myanmar military on October 13. The Set Yone Su Ward residents were detained and at least some of them allegedly beaten, at their houses in midnight raids on Thursday in the Arakan State capital.