In the aftermath of the military coup, some returnees to Arakan State from Yangon are facing difficulties due to job scarcity in the state, the returnees said. 

Yangon’s Western District Court on Tuesday heard a prosecution witness in the case of the younger brother of Arakan Army (AA) chief, Major-General Twan Mrat Naing, and seven others who were arrested in 2019 and charged under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law. 

Seven of 37 ward and village administrators appointed by the military junta in Arakan State’s Ann Township have submitted resignation letters. 

A group of youths opened a free medical clinic in Kone Tan ward of the Arakan State capital Sittwe on Monday.

Thousands of people have made their way back to Arakan State from Yangon since political turmoil engulfed the commercial capital following the February 1 military coup. But pockets of Arakan State natives have stayed put, including a sizable population of ethnic Kaman who fled turmoil in Ramree Township years ago, only to face a different set of troubling circumstances in Yangon post-coup.  

Wun Paik mangrove forest, the biggest of its kind in Myanmar, has seen increased logging since the military coup in February, according to Ramree Township residents.

The State Administration Council (SAC) is collecting lists of people in order to “restructure” militia groups in Manaung Township, according to residents.

Several diplomatic missions in Myanmar called for the immediate release of all media workers detained by the military junta, as well as for an end to internet restrictions, as they marked World Press Freedom Day on May 3. 

Two villages in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, that must be relocated due to the Thahtay Chaung hydropower project are facing landslides following continuous rains over recent days, villagers said.

The Arakan State Administration Council, the state-level governing body of Myanmar’s military junta, is taking measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus from Bangladesh and India though border trade centres in Sittwe and Maungdaw.

Myanmar’s military, which overthrew the country’s elected government in a February 1 coup, has extended its unilateral ceasefire for another month, through May 31, purportedly to continue peace talks with ethnic armed groups in the country. 

Residents facing water scarcity in the Arakan State capital Sittwe can inform the Sittwe Township Development Affairs Committee in order to access water, according to U Kyaw Myo Htay, an engineer for the committee.

Another member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) was arrested in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on the evening of April 28, putting the number of NLD members detained since the military’s February 1 coup to at least 10 in Arakan State.

An urban land reclamation project implemented by South Korea’s BXT International in the Arakan State capital Sittwe is bringing headaches for boatmen, fishing trawlers and dockworkers who now must look elsewhere for their mooring needs. 

Agreements for the Kyaukphyu SEZ project’s deep-sea port project and shareholders were signed during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in January of last year.

Local residents of Tinma village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township have asked the military governing council for Arakan State to rebuild more than 130 houses razed by fire as well as repair the village monastery, which was damaged by shelling.

All teachers have been instructed to report to their schools on May 3, said Arakan State Educational Officer U Tin Thein.

The Arakan State Administration Council, the state-level governing body of Myanmar’s military junta, has erected signboards in Kyaukphyu, Taungup and Ann townships asking the public to inform authorities if they see or know the whereabouts of 17 individuals including veteran democracy activist U Min Ko Naing.

Lawsuits filed under the Counter-Terrorism Law against people for their alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA) can be dropped only with the approval of Myanmar’s Anti-Terrorism Central Committee, the spokesman of Arakan State’s military governing body has said.