Celebrations commemorating the ninth Arakan National Day will be held in Arakan State’s Maungdaw and Thandwe on May 15, according to event organisers. 

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 Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Chin National Front (CNF) issued a joint statement on May 9 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. 

The Myanmar junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) has 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.  

Myanmar military inspections have become increasingly frequent in Arakan State villages of late, according to residents, who say the surprise visits are unnerving locals. 

A fire broke out at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the compound of Mahamuni Pagoda in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw at around 1 a.m. on Monday, damaging or destroying 262 homes and leaving hundreds of IDPs in need of emergency relief aid. 

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. 

Fighting continues in Kyainseikgyi Township, Kayin (Karen) State, and civilians displaced by the ongoing hostilities are in urgent need of food and medicine, according to aid workers. 

As Cyclone Asani churned over the Bay of Bengal on Monday, Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) said it was not likely to deliver a direct hit to the Arakan State coast, but the department nonetheless advised caution for western Myanmar’s inhabitants. 

At least six ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) have 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. 

Myanmar’s military regime distributed propaganda leaflets against the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) to passers-by in Mrauk-U Township.

An order has been issued by the local police to remove homes and shops built in the airport area and former departmental office space in Ann, Arakan State, according to locals. 

Civilians continue to be displaced by fighting between Myanmar’s junta and anti-regime forces including the Karen National Union (KNU) and People’s Defence Force (PDF) groups in areas controlled by KNU Brigade 1 in Mon State’s Thaton District, according to local humanitarian groups. 

A large contingent of police and junta personnel both in uniform and plainclothes raided the old office of Narinjara, a media outlet based in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, on Saturday morning. 

The body of an unidentified man was found dead on the lawn near a nursing home on Strand Road in the Arakan State capital Sittwe at around 8 a.m. on Saturday. 

A verdict in the case of two men from Arakan State’s Thandwe Township who have been accused of ties to the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF) is expected at their next court hearing, according to a lawyer involved. 

At least three dozen people displaced by fighting between the Myanmar military and Chin anti-regime resistance groups near Samee town in Chin State’s Paletwa Township are reportedly struggling to make ends meet.  

Family members say they have not yet been allowed to see two village administrators from Sittwe who were detained on Wednesday. 

The sixth anniversary of Mro National Day was observed at a monastery in 3rd-Mile village, Maungdaw Township, on the morning of May 6, with celebrants gathering to preserve the traditional culture of the ethnic group and unite Mro people living across Arakan State.