An interfaith football tournament that began last month and concluded on New Year’s Day is being touted as proof-positive that Arakan State’s diverse ethnic and religious communities can live together in harmony, and enjoy a bit of friendly sporting competition too. 

Myanmar is the second largest country in Southeast Asia, with a land area of 261,228 square miles (676,578 sq km). Myanmar’s coast spans about 1,385 miles, from the mouth of the Naf River in western Arakan State to Kawthaung, Tanintharyi Region, in the country’s southeast. 

In Myanmar, sex workers are addressed as “pyae taza” in polite form. The usage is derived from a Pali word, roughly translating to “those who decorate a country.” But they are also called far more demeaning terms, such as “porn girls” and “whores”. 

Over the course of Sai Din’s history, it has been known as Sit Tan Tin, Sein Tin and See Tin. It was renamed Sai Din in its later years. “Sai Din” is believed to have evolved from “Sit Tan Tin”, meaning the water of Sit Creek above the Sai Din Mountains — in other words, a waterfall formed by Sit Creek.

“There were no trash cans at Yan Aung Myay IDP camp. And people discarded their rubbish unsystematically,” said Ko Wai Yan Soe. “So, the environment is polluted with rubbish. We’ve now placed trash cans, and the municipality’s garbage truck comes every Monday to collect rubbish from the camp.” 

There was fierce fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Arakan State for about two years, from December 2018 to approximately November 2020, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes.  

Unfortunately, we humans are turning some of these precious mangroves into charcoal, while some mangrove forests are converted into salt fields. Some mangrove forests are being converted into housing projects. As a result of these changes, mangroves are slowly disappearing in Myanmar. 

More than 10,000 IDPs returned home this way in August alone, said an official from the Rakhine Ethnics Congress, a group that collects lists of IDPs in Arakan State. 

Many cannot afford to buy an entire package of sanitary pads, so they instead buy them individually at K200 per, a price that has risen as has the cost of many goods during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The farmlands of some farmers in Arakan State have been destroyed by floods that occurred in July and lasted over a week, with the farmers reportedly facing many difficulties.

The first and second waves of Covid-19 in Arakan State were not prolonged, but the third wave was not far behind, characterised by the more contagious Delta variant. 

Last month, developers in Arakan State asked the state-level military council to help ease their difficulties. Construction companies are facing challenges such as price surges for building materials including cement and iron rods, and problems withdrawing money from banks. 

Fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) once raged in the Taw Phyar Chaung area of Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, forcing many residents to flee their homes.

Broken down by township, the houses total 399 from Kyauktaw, 244 from Paletwa, 209 from Mrauk-U, 164 from Rathedaung, 163 from Buthidaung, 28 from Minbya and three from Ponnagyun, the organisation said.

The two reporters have been granted bail in the case brought under Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law, but with the more recently added second charge under Penal Code Section 505(a), the defendants are not able to apply for bail.

Among the tens of thousands of civilians displaced by conflict between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army, some have been away from their homes for more than two years. So when a tentative ceasefire was reached circa October 2020, significant numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) packed their bags and headed home.  

Each year spoon-billed sandpipers leave their homeland and travel thousands of miles south to escape the cold, food-scarce climate during the winter. After wintering for a while at warmer latitudes, the spoon-billed sandpipers return to their homeland: Siberia, Russia. Therefore, people living in foreign lands and returning in droves are often compared to Siberians.

Council member U Than Tun said authorities would not build new shelters for the fire victims, but would arrange accommodation and provide one month’s food if they return to their homes. 

“I want to stay at home. However, I have not gotten a chance to stay at my home for a long time. I am worried that when [I do return], new clashes will occur,” U Oo Tun Hlaing says pensively.