Coup-related disruptions to banking services, limited availability of cash and challenges to supply chains have hampered aid agencies’ work, the UN has said.

A verdict will be delivered next week in the case of four men, including the former municipal committee chairman of Arakan State’s Taungup Township, who were charged under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law over their alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA).

A dead body was found in the compound of Myoma Mosque in Maungdaw, Arakan State, on the morning of March 24, according to the Maungdaw Myoma Police Station. 

Commodity prices in Arakan State are expected to increase because of slower commodities flows into the state, according to U Khin Maung Gyi, vice chair of the Rakhine Economic Initiative Public Company. 

Residents in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township have asked for the relocation of a rubbish dumpsite, saying its current location in their neighbourhood was causing health problems and a pervasive stench. 

Arakan State’s prawn and crab exports are down since border trade with China via Muse, a primary conduit for the state’s commercial seafood, remains suspended, traders said.

A displacement camp for Muslims in Sittwe is in need of food as aid delivery to the camp was disrupted by last month’s military coup, displaced people at the camp told DMG.

Following resignations by party members unhappy about cooperation with Myanmar’s military regime, a senior Arakan National Party (ANP) member said he wanted the current conflict in Myanmar to be resolved peacefully. 

More than K700 million ($497,000) remaining in a fund of the Arakan State government formerly headed by deposed Chief Minister U Nyi Pu will be spent for the return of internally displaced people (IDPs), according to the military-led Arakan State Administration Council.

Out of 98 hotels, motels and guesthouses in Arakan State that have closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 52 have been allowed to resume operations so far, according to the state Directorate of Hotels and Tourism.

A total of 77 Arakanese civil society organisations released a statement on March 21 demanding the immediate release of those detained for protesting against last month’s military coup.

Myebon residents have called for the daily operation of passenger vessels between their town and the Arakan State capital Sittwe.

Colonel Min Than, a member of the Tatmadaw-led Arakan State Administration Council, said patients could receive free medical treatment at military hospitals as some patients told DMG that they have struggled to receive medical treatment for the past 15 days at Sittwe General Hospital.

At least 235 people were killed in violent crackdowns by the Tatmadaw and police from the day the military seized power on February 1 to March 19, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which added that 2,330 people were arrested, charged or sentenced over the 47-day period.

The Committee Representing Yangon Region Hluttaw (CRYH) on March 19 announced that township Public Administration Teams had been successfully formed in Yangon Region, apart from the island township of Cocokyun.

The Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation (MWAF) has condemned the military regime’s continued crackdown on unarmed peaceful protesters, its declaration of martial law in some Yangon Region townships, and the mobile internet cut-off in effect across the country over recent days.

Save the Children, UNESCO and UNICEF have strongly criticised Myanmar security forces’ occupation of education facilities across the country amid bloody crackdowns on anti-regime protesters.

A checkpoint set up near Kyauk Talone Pagoda in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, ceased inspections and had its gate dismantled on Saturday morning amid local opposition to its continued existence.

“I am facing difficulty for livelihood because I am jobless in Arakan State. I returned home because factories in Yangon are suspended due to the protests,”