A senior government official has called on the Arakan Army to stop “causing distress to innocent civilians” as the warring sides continue to point fingers over who is responsible for a conflict that has displaced more than 200,000 people and prompted the cancellation of most elections in Arakan State this year. 

Myanmar’s Marine Administration Department says it has been unable to conduct field surveys for the national oil spill contingency plan (NOSCP) in Arakan State due to the coronavirus pandemic.  

Forty-two signboards containing information about COVID-19 were erected this month in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township, where internet access is poor, but a local youth activist says a handful of the boards have already been vandalised.  

As Myanmar barrels toward the November 8 election amid a pandemic, some of the teachers who will serve as poll workers are worried about the risk of contracting COVID-19 as an outbreak that began in mid-August shows no sign of abating.  

The National League for Democracy (NLD) on October 21 demanded the immediate release of three of the party’s candidates who were abducted by the Arakan Army (AA) in Taungup Township last week. 

Two town elders in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, were abducted by an unidentified armed group on October 21, according to locals.

Shark and ray populations off the Arakan State coast have declined due to overfishing, according to local residents and organisations engaged in marine conservation. 

Due to local travel restrictions, a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) called Sasana Beikman in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township is facing food shortages, according to camp inhabitants. 

A landmine blast killed one member of the security forces and injured four others in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township on October 21, according to local residents.

The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) said in a statement on October 19 that the failure to hold the general elections in non-conflict areas in Arakan State would deprive local people of their right to vote.

Union Election Commission member U Myint Naing said it had obtained opinions and remarks from the Union Government, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs to mark and announce the townships not holding election.

Two sexagenarians succumbed to COVID-19 at Sittwe General Hospital this week, bringing the statewide death toll from the disease to 14, according to Dr. Soe Win Paing, assistant director of the Arakan State Public Health Department.  

Police have opened a case against four students who were arrested on October 19 after staging a protest against the government and military in the Arakan State capital Sittwe.

A resident of Yokethar village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township who was recently arrested by the Tatmadaw has been handed over to the Kyauktaw Myoma police station, according to family members of the detainee. 

More than 1.2 million people in Arakan State will miss out on the chance to vote in this year’s general election due to a Union Election Commission (UEC) announcement last week detailing constituencies where the polls will not be held.  

Five allied ethnic political parties have decried the Union Election Commission’s recent announcement on constituencies where voting will not take place for the upcoming general election. 

Lawmakers have warned that cancelled elections could widen the conflict arena in Arakan State as voters in the affected townships are deprived of parliamentary politics as an avenue for political expression and recourse.

The detainees have been identified as U Kyaw Min Aung, 32, and U Htay Lwin, 33, from Paletwa’s Paloketaung ward. They were arrested at about 5 p.m. on Sunday on their way from Yaytinkhun village to Paletwa carrying commodities, Paletwa resident U Aung Aung said. 

The Arakan Army (AA) issued a press release on October 19 saying it was responsible for the abduction of three National League for Democracy (NLD) candidates contesting the upcoming general election in Taungup Township, Arakan State.