The Tatmadaw has stepped up security at the entrance of Taungup town after a group of people in the guise of police recently attempted to detain some National League for Democracy members in the area, according to town residents.

Myanmar security forces conducting operations along the border with Bangladesh found World Food Programme-marked food packages hidden by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) in a bush near the boundary line, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief said on May 6.

Diarrhoea has broken out at the Myaung Nar IDP camp in northern Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township, according to the manager of the camp.

Masks not approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are being sold openly in the central market of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, DMG has learned.

Some members of the National League for Democracy in Arakan State’s Taungup Township have gone into hiding, fearing for their safety following recent threats to local party backers and in one instance an attempted “arrest” by a group masquerading as police personnel. 

A social aid group in Lay Taung town, Ramree Township, is entertaining people under quarantine in the town with songs.

Some people returning from Yangon, Ayeyarwady and Bago regions have entered Thandwe without undergoing 21-day facility quarantine as mandated by the government, DMG has found.

A man from Bu Shwe Maw village in Taungup Township, southern Arakan State, was abducted by the Arakan Army (AA) on May 5, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief said on Tuesday. 

More than 2,000 people from the villages of Min, Myit Nar and Htauk Chay in Minbya Township, Arakan State, fled their homes on May 5, fearing they would be interrogated by a military column that entered the settlements.

A 42-year-old woman from Ponnagyun town, Arakan State, was arrested by a group of authorities that included Tatmadaw and police personnel and the local ward administrator on the morning of May 6, witnesses said.

People in Arakan State’s IDP camps face a lack of information as well as difficulty following Ministry of Health guidelines concerning protection against COVID-19, according to one camp official.

Some people who have returned to Arakan State from Yangon and elsewhere in the country and abroad are complaining of unwelcoming conditions as they undergo mandatory 21-day facility quarantines in the state.

Eight wooden houses at Nga Tauktu Chay village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township were destroyed by fire on the evening of May 4, villagers said.

A 48-year-old internally displaced person (IDP) living at the Nyaung Chaung refugee camp in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township died after stepping on a landmine on May 4.

The Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs and members of the management committee for the Zedipyin IDP camp in Ponnagyun Township on May 2 discussed returning the war refugees to their homes.

More than 800 internally displaced people (IDPs) who are sheltering at a monastery in Alae Gyun village, Ann Township, are facing food shortages as donors shy away from inspections required to access the war-affected population.

An independent journalists’ group comprising more than 180 reporters throughout Myanmar has called on President U Win Myint to address some of the challenges faced by the nation’s press corps.

Since the National League for Democracy government took office four years ago, the right to freedom of expression has been most significantly violated in Arakan State when compared with Myanmar’s other states and regions, according to the free speech advocacy group Athan. 

Fighting occurred between the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and a Border Guard Force contingent on May 2 along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border, injuring two policemen, according to the Office of the Commander-in-Chief.