More than 860 people stranded in Yangon during the COVID-19 period have been transported back to Arakan State and 2,500 more are still awaiting return to their home state, according to the groups helping them. 

A 12-year-old at Hnget Chaung internally displaced person (IDP) camp in Pauktaw Township, Arakan State, was allegedly gang-raped late last month, according to the girl’s family. 

Due to instability and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic and international travellers to Arakan State have dropped by nearly 25% this year compared with 2019, according to figures from the state’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism.  

The Defence Ministry has denied allegations that Myanmar’s military (aka Tatmadaw) is responsible for the deaths and detention of civilians between February and April in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township. 

“There were not such damages to the paddy in the past. This year, we have the paddy grains but they are of poor quality and farmers are losing,” said U Khin Maung Than from Kyun Gya village in Manaung Township, Arakan State. 

A military tribunal in Arakan State will render a final verdict on December 11 after three soldiers admitted to raping a woman in U Gar village, Rathedaung Township, according to a lawyer who is assisting the victim. 

Visually impaired masseuses and masseurs from the Mettarwadi Education Center for the Blind in Sittwe say they have fallen on hard times as the massage therapy-based income model that they rely on has dried up amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Arakan State government is collecting a list of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the state to help arrange for safe returns to their places of origin as there have been no reports of clashes since Myanmar’s November 8 general election, according to the state government. 

National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Dr. Myo Nyunt said the ruling party will try to solve political problems through dialogue with ethnic political parties of shared aims.  

Police have filed a criminal complaint against the owner of a betel nut farm in Mrauk-U Township following an explosion on his land that injured a man, family members of the accused said. 

The Arakan Army (AA) says it directly communicated with the Tatmadaw last month, discussing three issues including the safe and speedy transport of basic food supplies and medicine to villages where locals are in urgent need due to past fighting.  

The Tatmadaw will suspend military operations for another month, through December 31, except in areas where terrorist groups take positions, the Tatmadaw True News Information Team said in a statement, offering much the same olive branch as previous unilateral ceasefire extensions, which notably excludes much of Arakan State. 

Denmark will provide more than US$700,000 for the restoration of mangrove forests in coastal areas of Arakan State and Tanintharyi Region, according to the Danish Embassy in Myanmar.

The Arakan State Department of Public Health has announced that only 50 children and pregnant women will receive various vaccinations each day at the respective clinics to avoid large crowds of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Locals from Pyin Kauk village-tract in Arakan State’s Manaung Township say they have not yet received compensation from the government for farmlands of theirs that were included in the construction of a hillside dam.

Though it has been 47 days since the Arakan Army abducted three National League for Democracy (NLD) candidates in Taungup Township, Arakan State, there has been no contact with the kidnapped trio, according to NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt. 

As dozens of civilians have been arrested over recent months in Arakan State on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA), some described as breadwinners have seen their families struggle financially in their absence.

Japan’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, Yohei Sasakawa, over the weekend said his government would provide US$200,000 for those displaced by conflict in Arakan State.

Yohei Sasakawa, Japan’s special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar, said conditions in northern Arakan State are stable enough to hold elections, as the envoy and his team visited Buthidaung and Kyauktaw townships on November 28.