Arakan State News Summary (May 8-14, 2021)

Ethnic Kaman residents from Thet Kay Pyin Ywama village in Sittwe Township are using fuel made from cow dung due to the scarcity of conventional fuels in their village.

Four families in Arakan State are demanding that authorities pay compensation after the Manaung Township Administration Council told them to leave their houses near Thamebala village by the end of May.

A resident of Darlat Anauk (West) village in Ann Township, Arakan State, died at a military hospital after stepping on a landmine on Saturday, villagers said.

U Than Tun, a member of the Arakan State Administration Council, told DMG that dredging would be carried out to improve the flow of the Myolae Creek in the state capital Sittwe.

About 100 students who are members of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Ba Ka Tha) have been arrested for joining the civil disobedience movement since the military seized power in a coup on February 1, said a responsible person from Ba Ka Tha.

With the junta-reconstituted Union Election Commission (UEC) offering to meet with political parties for a second time, the Arakan Front Party (AFP) has said it will attend, but the Arakan National Party (ANP) and Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) have not yet announced decisions on the matter. 

The prices of palm oil and some other cooking oils have as much as doubled since the beginning of the year in Arakan State, according to wholesalers and businesspeople.

Customers say they are facing difficulty transferring or withdrawing money at private banks in Sittwe, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and other townships in Arakan State.

A quarantine centre is set to reopen in the Arakan State capital Sittwe after four returnees from Bangladesh tested positive for COVID-19 this week, according to the Arakan State Administration Council. 

A former Lower House MP for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Taungup Township, Daw Ni Ni May Myint, and fellow NLD candidate for the national legislature Daw Chit Chit Chaw were arrested on Wednesday, according to family members. 

Kinship gatherings will be held in Konbaung village, part of Arakan State’s Ramree Township, in June, reviving a long-running tradition that was forgone last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yay Kauk and Payit villages in Thandwe Township are facing drinking water scarcity, according to local villagers.

A Border Guard Force (BGF) unit on patrol and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) exchanged fire at the Kha Maung Seik border area between mile marker Nos. 51 and 52 of the Maungdaw Township border fence in northern Arakan State on Wednesday morning. 

Four out of 40 returnees from Bangladesh have tested positive for coronavirus at the Shwe Mingan border trade camp in Sittwe Township, according to the Arakan State Department of Public Health.

Two journalists from Development Media Group (DMG) charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code have been summoned by the Sittwe Township Court to face the charges being brought against them. 

Ko Aung Mrat Kyaw, the younger brother of Arakan Army (AA) chief Major-General Twan Mrat Naing, and seven others appeared before Yangon’s Western District Court once again on May 11, but the case has been postponed to May 18, according to a lawyer representing the defendants. 

The Chin University Students in Rakhine State (CUSR) released a statement on May 9 urging ethnic Chin university students in Arakan State to boycott the education system under military rule and join the civil disobedience movement. 

Nearly 250 teachers in Arakan State have not yet reported to their respective schools despite the resumption of primary, secondary and high school classes just weeks away, according to the Arakan State education officer’s office.