The Arakan State Minister for Social Affairs has reported difficulties in travelling to camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) across the state to provide awareness about the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 1,000 people sheltering at the Nyaung Chaung camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyauktaw Township are in urgent need of food supplies, officials at the camp in Arakan State said.

More than 3,600 civilians from Chin State’s Paletwa Township have been displaced by recent clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA), according to U Soe Htet, spokesperson for the Chin State government. 

A military convoy was attacked by mines on March 23 at about 7 a.m. between Pyone Pyae and Alaechaung villages, near Sane town in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, a resident of the town told DMG.

Fierce fighting was reported after the Arakan Army attacked the No. 9 Advanced Training School near Kanni village in Arakan State’s Minbya Township on the morning of March 23, MPs and residents said.

Five people were injured by unexploded ordnance on the morning of March 22 at Innbaryi and Gotepehtaung Muslim villages near the Kaladan River in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, locals said.

A public meeting was held on March 20 regarding the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that is to be implemented in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, with locals afterward releasing a statement that included five demands.

As one of several towns in Arakan State that see an influx of migrant workers returning to their hometowns and villages this time of year, residents of Manaung are flagging the possibility that some could be bringing the coronavirus home with them.

More than 100 locals from Dar Lat (West) village in Ann Township, Arakan State, have fled to Ann town after hearing the sound of heavy and small weapons fire coming from the mountains near their village.

The Myanmar government will step up relief aid provisioning for people displaced by conflict (IDPs) between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement released on March 20.

The Sittwe District Court on March 20 sentenced Ko Than Hla, aka Ko Min Bar Chay, to 15 days in prison after he and others staged demonstrations last year calling for justice in the killing of civilians in Arakan State.

An explosion injured a village administrator and two security personnel at a jetty along the Laymyo River at Pan Myaung village, in Arakan State’s Minbya Township, on the morning of March 20, with one local resident describing the blast as a mine detonation.

Some children taking shelter at camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Rathedaung Township are suffering from fever amid cramped living quarters and as seasonal temperatures move toward their hottest annual averages, according to IDPs.

Camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the town of Rathedaung are in need of firewood for cooking, as well as food supplies, IDPs say.

The Chin National Front (CNF) has asked the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army to immediately cease hostilities in Chin State, and is demanding the pullout of the Arakanese ethnic armed group from Chin State’s Paletwa Township, which borders conflict-plagued Arakan State. 

The body of one of 10 male detainees held incommunicado by the Tatmadaw for several days was found floating in waters near the Kyauktaw Township village from which they were taken, the dead man’s younger sister told DMG.

Five civilians were injured by artillery fire near the Kispanadi Bridge in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, on the morning of March 20, according to residents.

A woman was killed and a boy injured when gunfire riddled a tent set up for an ordination ceremony in Ponnagyun Township’s Latmasait village on March 18, according to relatives of the deceased.

The IDPs have come to the Arakan State capital from war-affected parts of Ann, Myebon, Rathedaung, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya and Buthidaung townships. Here they live in tents roofed with tarpaulin. Mothers with infants are afforded the relative luxury of a space under the monastery building.