Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State are facing food and shelter shortages due to a lack of aid from local nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations and charity groups.

The Arakan National Council/Arakan Army and allied armed groups conducted a surprise offensive on February 16 and temporarily seized a Myanmar military artillery base in Kayin State, according to an ANC/AA official.

The Forest Department has reportedly submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation to allocate 450 acres of land to people who have been relocated to make way for a hydropower project in Thandwe Township, Arakan State.

The long-running trial of five men from Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, who have been accused of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army (AA), continued at the Sittwe District Court on February 17. 

Water resources experts visiting Mrauk-U have suggested that the unregulated dumping of waste in area creeks is a threat to the ancient city’s bid for UNESCO World Heritage status, suggesting that a better drainage system is also needed.

Police have reportedly detained a suspect over the murder of an employee from a recently opened hotel in Manaung Township, Arakan State.

Residents of three territories of the Karen National Union (KNU) have had to flee their homes again due to new clashes between the Myanmar military and joint forces of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), according to KNU sources.

More than 50 employees of Sittwe University in the Arakan State capital have tested positive for Covid-19, but the university has no plans to suspend classes again, according to its Academic Affairs Department. 

Arakanese traditional boat racing will be held in Ramree Township, Arakan State, from May 15 to 19, according to the organising committee for the traditional Rammarwadi rowing competition.

The Pauktaw Tagun speedboat ferry running between Sittwe and Pauktaw in Arakan State has suspended services this month as it is facing losses, owner U Shwe Phaw Thu told DMG.

The Myanmar military has restricted the transportation of four kinds of goods, including rice, on a state-owned vessel plying a water route between Kyauktaw in Arakan State and Chin State’s Paletwa, causing high local commodity prices and food shortages, residents say.

Residents in the Ywathit neighbourhood of Nalapwe ward in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu are facing water shortages and are having to use salt water in some cases, according to locals.

The Myanmar junta announced over the weekend that a total of 46 people arrested on suspicion of having links to the Arakan Army (AA) were released on February 12, but four of them remain detained, according to Wai Hun Aung, a writer compiling a list of those released. 

A female student from Mawlamyine University was arrested on February 13 for allegedly participating in anti-military dictator protests in the Mon State capital Mawlamyine.

Domestic flight passengers in Myanmar have to undergo Covid-19 testing from February 15, according to the Arakan State Department of Public Health (DPH).

It remains difficult to supply water from the Phalaung Pyin reservoir to all residential areas in Minbya, some of which are facing water shortages, according to the Minbya Township Development Committee. 

Although more than half of Arakan State is covered by natural forests, these forests are being destroyed at alarming annual rates, and environmental groups point out that illegal logging is one of the main causes of deforestation, rather than legal private logging.

Two buildings used as a school inside a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township collapsed due to strong winds on February 12.

Myanmar’s military regime has cut off mobile data, the main source of internet access for millions of people in Arakan State, in some of the state’s townships since February 12, according to local people.