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.  

A robbery took place at knifepoint on Sunday night in Thinganat village, Kyauktaw Township, according to local residents, with the thieves stealing money intended for a local monastery.

Four members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) including Ma Moe San Su Kyi, the daughter of former Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, and U Soe Lay, vice chairman of the NLD’s Arakan State chapter, were arrested over the weekend, according to a party official in Taungup Township and family members of the detainees. 

The necessary steps will be taken to crown the Mrauk-U archaeological zone a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Dr. Tin Mar Aung recently told DMG, as a project she has spent years guiding looks likely to enter its final phase under military rule. 

The Arakan National Party told the media that it had suspended cooperation with the military-led State Administration Council.

Construction of numerous replicas of ancient Mrauk-U structures on Mya Yadanar Hill in Thandwe Township, Arakan State, is more than 50% complete, according to a local pagoda board of trustees. 

The Sittwe University Students’ Union will protect Sittwe University students, whether they opt to go back to class or not, from being threatened or pressured by any individuals or entities, according to Ko Toe Toe Aung, chair of the union.  

Three people who were severely injured on May 7 when a piece of unexploded ordnance blew up in Sabahta village, in Arakan State’s Minbya Township, were transferred from Minbya Hospital to Sittwe General Hospital on Saturday.

A final proposal intended to put Mrauk-U on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites is set to be submitted in January of next year, according to the junta-led Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture. 

Thirty-five instructors from Sittwe University in the Arakan State capital have been dismissed for joining the civil disobedience movement, according to a letter signed by Dr. Khin Maung Zaw, acting rector of the University. 

Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Arakan State have called for systematic monitoring of entries and departures at the country’s westernmost borders in response to alarming rates of recent coronavirus infection and related fatalities in neighbouring India and Bangladesh. 

Ethnic Mro displaced people have also faced food shortages like other internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State, said IDP camp managers. 

Basic education schools across Myanmar will accept enrolment as of May 24, said Arakan State education officer U Tin Thein. 

With the houses affected by a large fire at Tin Nyo IDP camp in March having been rebuilt by donors, a new school will be built for IDP children, said the author Wai Hun Aung, who is providing help for the camp. 

A displacement camp opened at a Buddhist monastery in Sittwe’s Setyonesu ward is facing a severe water shortage and in urgent need of water supplies.