About 3,000 Arakanese migrant workers have returned from Yangon since March amid political turmoil in the commercial capital, according to Arakanese organisations that are assisting the migrant labourers.

A landmine explosion occurred near Taung Ywar (Muslim) village in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, on April 8, injuring six children; four girls and two boys.

Gunfire was reported on Friday afternoon outside the Yoma Bank building in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, with a soldier reportedly injured, residents said.

The prices of goods imported from central Myanmar into Arakan State have increased by up to 50%, said U Khin Maung Gyi, vice chair of the Rakhine Economic Initiative Public Co Ltd.

With Myanmar in a more politically tenuous position than it has been in decades, the prominent Arakanese politician Dr. Aye Maung has questioned the merits of a document considered by many to be foundational to modern Myanmar’s origin story.

A court in Sittwe on Wednesday heard the plaintiff in the case of ousted Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, who has been charged with incitement under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code. 

More than one-third of reported casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) encounters in Myanmar are children, according to UNICEF Myanmar, which said Arakan State has the highest rate of reported child casualties, with children accounting for 47% of the total. 

The death toll during the so-called Spring Revolution in Myanmar reached 581 on April 6, and the number of people detained since the February 1 military coup totalled 2,750, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). 

A total of 53 reporters have been detained or prosecuted since the military coup on February 1, said journalist U Myint Kyaw, citing data from fellow members of the media.

Fish and prawn prices in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, have fallen by more than 50% following the Tatmadaw’s seizure of power on February 1, seafood traders say.

Wave Money agents in Arakan State are facing cash shortages and people are spending money on transportation and face difficulties overnighting as they wait to take out money at locations some distance from their hometowns and villages.

Amid growing concerns over an increased Tatmadaw presence in Arakan State, the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank formed by ex-military officers, has suggested that there is little chance of fresh clashes erupting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA).  

To solve the annual summer water shortages affecting the town of Minbya, Arakan State, its Development Affairs Committee has arranged to supply water from Phalaung Pyin reservoir via a pumping station. 

Farmers have been told to repay their agricultural loans by April 15 this year, according to an official from the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank (MADB) in Arakan State. 

About 400 shelters were damaged by strong winds at three displacement camps in Chin State’s Paletwa Township on Sunday evening, according to camp managers.

A mother and two of her sons were killed, and another son was injured when an unexploded shell blew up in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township on Sunday. 

The Mon National Network and anti-authoritarian Mon youth forces on April 3 urged the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) to draw up an interim constitution as quickly as possible and to create a national unity government.  

The Peace Process Steering Team (PPST), formed by the 10 ethnic armed organisations that signed Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, on Sunday called on the junta to stop killing unarmed civilians, and to immediately and unconditionally release all those unjustly detained under its rule. 

The Arakan State Administration Council is conducting field inspections at Sittwe’s Kandawgyi Lake, which supplies water for the Arakan State capital, in hopes of addressing its tendency to dry up during the summer months, according to U Hla Thein, the council’s information officer.