The Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) has come in for criticism for allegedly doing little to address a growing stack of complaints about reported human rights violations in Arakan State.

Residents from more than 30 villages in Manaung Township, Arakan State, are struggling to receive healthcare services as the Sarchat station hospital has no doctors, according to the residents.

Three members of the Northern Alliance have issued a statement signalling their openness to joining the Union Peace Conference under the right circumstances, including COVID-19 mitigation efforts and “under the leadership of the FPNCC [Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee], its guidance, and security guarantee.”

The military has freed one of two men from Sai Chone village in Kyaukphyu Township, but the man still in custody will be charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law, the Tatmadaw True News Information Team said in a statement on July 21.

Four men including the chair of the Taungup Township Development Affairs Committee and the vice chair of the Arakan National Party in Taungup Township, who were charged under Section 52(a) of the Counter-Terrorism Law, appeared before the township court on July 21.

Nine lawmakers have been identified on a list issued by the Arakan State legislature as having failed to yet submit any proposals during their five-year terms in office, which wrap up early next year. 

The chair of the Arakan National Party (ANP) in Taungup Township’s Maei town has been released after being held in military custody for more than a month, reportedly on suspicion of having links to the Arakan Army. 

Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC) will reportedly hold talks with concerned officials about restoring internet access in Arakan State ahead of the 2020 general election.

The military has launched what were described as “counter-terrorism operations” against the Arakan Army near Kyauktan, Hteeswel and Aung Thazi villages in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State. 

 The families of five Ramree Township men arrested by the Tatmadaw are concerned for the detainees’ safety after one of their peers died in military custody last week.

Two cottage hospitals in Ramree and Taungup townships have been without doctors — the latter facility since 2017 — and face calls from local residents that they be properly staffed with licensed physicians. 

A patient from Kyauktaw Township known as Case 339, who tested positive for coronavirus, was found to have been in contact with illegal entrants from Bangladesh, according to the township medical superintendent. 

The Arakan State government has been weak in implementing proposals approved by the state legislature, some lawmakers say. 

A batch of school computers and bicycles provided by the government for high schools and their students in Taungup Township, which sunk in a shipwreck in June, will be recorded as losses, but replacements cannot be provided this year, according to an official from the Department of Basic Education. 

People from the upper reaches of Paletwa Township, Chin State, are facing difficulties because they have reportedly been prohibited from transporting food and medicine into the area by the military. 

Legal action should be taken against those involved in the killing of a 31-year-old man from Pikethae ward in Kyauktaw town, Arakan State, the victim’s family said. 

In the first four years of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government’s five-year term, cases involving violations of free speech were filed against 1,051 people, according to a July 16 statement from the freedom of expression group Athan. 

The All Arakan Students’ and Youths’ Congress (AASYC) has submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) a report on human rights violations committed by the government and military amid ongoing armed conflict in Arakan State.

Plans to adopt online teaching and learning at universities in Myanmar during the COVID-19 pandemic were made without due consideration for the situation in Arakan State, where more than 1 million people are without internet access, according to the Arakan Students’ Union.