The Karen National Union (KNU) announced on June 16 that it would investigate allegations that the Karen National Defence Organization (KNDO) killed 25 civilians working on a construction site in Myawaddy District, Kayin State.

Farmers in Arakan State and locals who depend on the forest for their livelihoods are concerned about the dangers of landmines this rainy season and are calling for more effective efforts to address the issue of landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERWs). 

Fish and prawns from northern Arakan State are being sold at auction in the state capital Sittwe because they can no longer easily be sent to Yangon and other parts of Myanmar.

The All Arakanese Solidarity Committee (AASC) is providing free education at the Shwe Zedi monastic education school in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, focusing on students from camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) who will sit the matriculation exam next year. 

Vendors at the Sittwe Myoma Market have been relocated to a new bazaar built near the BXT port and not far from their old selling grounds, according to U Than Tun, a member of the Arakan State military council.

Border trade gates are being systematically managed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Arakan State, according to U Hla Thein, information officer for the Arakan State military council. 

Ten people including the younger brother and sister of Arakan Army (AA) chief Major-General Twan Mrat Naing, as well as the AA leader’s brother-in-law, were released, according to a lawyer involved in the case.

There were 94 cases of dengue fever in Arakan State this year from January to June 15, according to the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH).

Due to heavy rains in recent days, some areas in Arakan State’s Thandwe and Taungup townships have faced flooding, according to locals.

With basic education schools open nationwide since June 1 following months shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 97% of students in Arakan State are attending classes, according to the Arakan State education office.

More than 200 children from Pauk Taw (Muslim) village in Minbya Township, Arakan State, have recovered from diarrhoea following an outbreak there, according to the Minbya Township Public Health Department. 

It will be very difficult for internally displaced people (IDPs) to stay put in the rainy season this year if the temporary tents that were built in previous years are not rebuilt in time, said managers of IDP camps in Arakan State.

The number of rape cases against children and women has increased in Arakan State, according to data from the Legal Clinic Myanmar (Arakan State). 

A Muslim man who was attempting to swim across the Naf River from Bangladesh to Myanmar was rescued by a trade boat on Tuesday morning. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has warned that Tatmadaw troop buildups in Myanmar’s Chin and Kayah states, as well as other “key areas,” threaten to bring further bloodshed and a deepening humanitarian crisis.

A mother from a village of Gwa Township, Arakan State, is demanding justice for her 13-year-old daughter, who was raped last week.

Local farmers say they have not been paid compensation for farmlands that were confiscated three years ago to make way for a dam project in Pyin Kaut village-tract, part of Arakan State’s Manaung Township.

More than 100,000 people have been displaced by fighting between Tatmadaw troops and the Karenni National Defense Force (KNDF) in Kayah State since May, leaving as many as 50 dead, according to aid groups that are assisting the internally displaced (IDPs).

Skidding vehicles and traffic congestion are frequent occurrences during the monsoon season along the Minbu-Ann road, which is mostly used for transporting goods overland from other parts of Myanmar to Arakan State, according to drivers.