With basic education schools set to reopen in July, education administrators in Arakan State plan to rely on sessions of schooling as one strategy for allowing as many students as possible to attend classes while observing 6-foot social distancing protocols in the COVID-19 era.

Village administrators are concerned for their safety and well-being after an administrator from Myebon town’s North Ward, in Arakan State, was taken from his home by a combined squad of Tatmadaw troops and policemen. 

A 17-year-old who was seriously injured during an April shelling of Kyauk Seik village in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township recently had to have his leg amputated, family members said. 

The Department of Public Health (DPH) under the Ministry of Health and Sports has reported 48 cases of dengue fever in Arakan State during the period from February 1 to June 1 of this year.

A spokesperson for the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) said the government bore some responsibility for the detention of three of its members, allegedly by the Arakan Army.

The organising committee for Arakan National Day in Sittwe Township announced that it would not host a commemoration this year because of ongoing conflict in Arakan State, regional instability and weak rule of law.

An unidentified group has abducted a member of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) from his home in Sarpyin village, Taungup Township, according to the missing man’s family.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army released a statement on June 1 offering to enter into a bilateral ceasefire with the Tatmadaw as a basis for further peace negotiations. 

A military contingent was rocked by twin mine blasts that also killed a civilian near Kinchaung Bridge on the Yangon-Sittwe highway in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, at 11:30 a.m. on June 2, according to locals. 

A handful of strategic positions that had been held by the Arakan Army in Chin State’s Paletwa Township and Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, were captured by Tatmadaw forces in recent days, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief reported. 

A pair of village administrators from Myebon Township, Arakan State, are facing a lawsuit opened under two sections of the Counter-Terrorism Law, according to their families. 

Police have opened a case against two residents of Mrauk-U district in under the Counter-Terrorism Law after the Tatmadaw detained them for nearly six months, family members of the men told DMG. 

Four civilians from Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, sustained bullet wounds on May 30 at about 8 p.m., residents said. 

For many villagers in Arakan State, there’s never been a more dangerous time to earn a living. Those who harvest wood or bamboo, forage for vegetables, engage in hillside cultivation, or otherwise rely on the lands surrounding their villages for livelihood take a risk every time they venture out as landmine encounters evidence increasing militarisation of the region.

A woman from Meeletwa (lower) village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township died of a bullet wound to the abdomen on May 30, according to residents.

The Arakan Army said it had released three family members of Border Guard Force personnel who were abducted after an attack on the Thazin Myaing BGF police outpost in Rathedaung Township, as well as a health worker who was detained previously. 

Many farmers from conflict-wracked northern Arakan State are unable to repay agricultural loans disbursed for the 2019 monsoon paddy growing season, said U Aye Thein, manager of the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank’s Arakan State branch.

The Arakan Army attacked the Thazin Myaing Border Guard Force outpost in Rathedaung Township in the early hours of May 29 and an exchange of fire ensued, residents said.

A resident of Shwe Kyan village in Minbya Township was seriously injured when he stepped on a landmine while heading to a hill to cut bamboo on May 28, family members said.