Field investigations into complaints of human rights abuses by locals in Arakan State could not be carried out amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to U Hla Myint, chairman of the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC).

Some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myebon Township, Arakan State, are in dire need of food and warm clothing amid the region’s cool season, camp managers have said.  

Many conflict-affected people in Arakan State are struggling to repay loans due to the coronavirus pandemic, low incomes and unemployment, according to a statement from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA Myanmar).

A total of 20 child rape cases were reported in Arakan State from January to December 26, four times the number of cases last year, according to figures from the Legal Clinic Myanmar (LCM).

The Rakhine Women Network says it will provide sanitary pads for women and girls at camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State as some camps report that current provisions from donors are insufficient. 

The free expression advocacy group Athan has condemned the sentencing of an Arakanese youth to five years in prison for allegedly instigating attacks against Myanmar’s military, calling the punishment a violation of human rights.

Two men allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl in Arakan State’s Ann Township on December 21, with one remaining at large, according to the township police and the victim’s family. 

Currently, civil society organisations such as the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC) and the Wun Lark Development Foundation are working on landmine risk education in Arakan State.

For most of the affected townships, the situation since August of this year has allowed mobile internet users to connect to a 2G network (in contrast to the 4G networks enjoyed by the rest of Myanmar) that critics say is too slow to execute even basic online functions. 

A motorboat rented by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to reach villages in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, for food deliveries was turned back by a Tatmadaw watercraft in the Mayu River on December 24, locals said.    

The 18-year-old, Maung Aung Nay Win from Apaukwa village, was taken from his home by two Tatmadaw soldiers on December 22 and was released later the same evening, his father said. 

Young people in Arakan State have meagre job opportunities due to a dearth of factories and lack of government assistance, according to lawmakers and local organisations, who note that talent continues to leave the state in search of employment elsewhere.

The Japanese government has provided more than US$9 million in assistance to internally displaced people (IDPs) and other victims of conflict in Kachin, Chin, Shan and Arakan states.

Residents in the vicinity of the Akyeittawkone hill in Sittwe, Arakan State, are complaining of the fumes they breathe in from the burning of rubbish in their neighborhood, which hosts a landfill for much of the city’s trash. 

Myanmar military personnel allegedly detained and beat an 11th grade student in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township on Tuesday, releasing him the same evening.

Twenty-one people were killed lawlessly in the three months from June 16 to September 15 in Arakan State, the civil society youth organisation Generation Wave said in a report released on December 21.

The Forest Department has invited people in Arakan State to establish community forests in its efforts to promote local forestry practices in Myanmar.

The recently opened Metta Yeik orphanage in Myebon Township’s Kanhtaunggyi town, Arakan State, for orphans who have lost parents during armed conflict, is in dire need of bed-related supplies such as pillows and blankets.

Most internally displaced people in Arakan State’s IDP (internally displaced person) camps are women, and Arakanese female parliamentarians and women’s civil society groups say they will work together to support the government in ensuring the safety of displaced women.