A final proposal intended to put Mrauk-U on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites was submitted to the Paris-based body on January 27, according to a Mrauk-U cultural conservation group.

More than 700 IDPs sheltering at a monastery in Thay Kan village, Minbya Township, are in urgent need of food assistance, according to Ashin Pyinyar Bala, the monastery’s head monk.

The Tatmadaw on January 27 told IDPs at a temporary camp in Sa Nyin village, Myebon Township, to relocate for their own safety, the military said in a statement, days after its soldiers were accused of forcibly dismantling shelters and ordering the camp’s inhabitants to clear out.

The Arakan Army (AA) released two detained Tatmadaw corporals at around noon on January 28 at Kin Talin village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, said Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the ethnic armed group.

The accident occurred at about 10 p.m. on Pyidaungsu Road while winger Ko Zaw Thein Win and his girlfriend were driving the motorbike. The woman, who was not immediately identified, suffered fatal head trauma and died on the spot.

About 50 children have fallen ill in Arakan State’s Ann Township, and four children sent to the Kyaukphyu District hospital to receive treatment are suspected of having measles.

The cracks began appearing late last year and some of the temple’s stone sculptures are showing more signs of damage, the chairperson of the Mrauk-U Ancient Cultural Heritage Conservation Group, Daw Khin Than, told DMG.

The Department of Disaster Management is struggling to provide public education programming on natural disasters due to ongoing armed conflict in some Arakan State townships, said U Ye Min Oo, head of the state-level department.

Some temporary shelters at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sa Nyin village, part of Arakan State’s Myebon Township, were reportedly destroyed by a military contingent on January 25, according to officials from the camp.

The purpose of the survey is to protect and promote the rights and well-being of local farmers in accordance with the law, said the chairman of the Arakan State Farmers’ Union, U Kyaw Zan.

Since clashes broke out near Kyaukyan and Maung Phyu villages in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, in the evening of January 24, residents have fled to nearby villages, according to local sources.

Thirteen people accused of having illegal ties to the Arakan Army and held in detention for most of last year were cleared of those charges and released by the Sittwe District Court on January 24.

An artillery shell that landed in Kin Taung (Muslim) village, Buthidaung Township, early on January 25 killed two villagers and injured seven others, according to family members of the victims.

Tobacco cultivation was once fairly commonplace in the township, but in recent years the ranks of tobacco farmers have declined, according to U Aung Kyaw Min, who once grew tobacco himself.

A non-optimal security environment has hampered implementation of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project amid ongoing clashes in parts of Arakan and Chin states, according to Indian Ambassador to Myanmar H.E Shri Saurabh Kumar.

The Union Supreme Court has rejected a final special appeal for prominent Arakanese politician Dr. Aye Maung and writer Wai Hun Aung, who were sentenced last year to 20 years in prison for high treason and incitement.

Authorities are struggling to issue fishing licenses in strife-torn Arakan State, according to U Soe Naing, head of the Department of Fisheries in the state.

The Tatmadaw True News Information Team’s secretary, Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun, has said that the military does not undertake offensive maneuvers using Mrauk-U’s ancient pagodas as bases of operation.

Political leaders this week said that although successive Myanmar governments including the current administration have promised to form a federal Union, none has had a systematic framework for introducing it.