United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Filippo Grandi and a delegation arrived at Sittwe on the afternoon of May 20 and visited Buthidaung and Maungdaw Townships.

A gunfire broke out in Buthidaung Township while United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Filippo Grandi was visiting Arakan State.

Ma Athein Chay from Myauktaung village was struck by a stray bullet in her head. She was on the way home with her brother from a monastery where they donated beverages, her brother escaped.

The occasion is annually hosted on the full moon day of Kasone, in second month of the Myanmar calendar year. The first three events were crowded with people, but a group of people made threats at last year’s event,

Local residents are concerned that they would face a rice scarcity and rice prices would increase in the coming rainy season following the ongoing skirmishes in Arakan State, but U Shwe Tun Aung said that the price of rice was not likely to increase in the rainy season.

Teachers from Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung Townships are especially concerned that they would be caught in the middle of crossfires because of transportation difficulties in the region there.

Now that journalists in Myanmar have been charged under laws that are not applicable to journalism and the media, the News Media Law should only be employed to charge journalists who don’t adhere to the requisites of the laws, the Myanmar Press Council (MPC) said in its statement released on May 16.

The villagers have been presented with lawsuits under section 50 (i) and 52(a) of the Counter-terrorism laws, said police captain Aung Mya Oo, head of No. (1) police station in Sittwe.

Family members today held funeral ceremonies for a detained man from Kyauktan village, who died in Yangon’s North Okkalapa hospital while undergoing medical treatment for an injury he received from gunfire during the Tatmadaw’s interrogations.

A UN senior official expressed her serious concern about the condition of IDPs in Arakan State, the number has reached over 30,000 within a six-month period due to the ongoing armed conflicts between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army.

Over 360 battles broke out between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) over a five-month period from December 2018 to April 2019, AA’s spokesperson Khaing Thukha told the DMG.

Skirmishes broke out in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U Townships on Tuesday, and the AA’s commandos attacked 13 military trucks on the road east of Thasi village in Kyauktaw Township, about 40 soldiers were killed from the Myanmar Army, the AA announced.

“We let people know that we sent the request letter to Amyotha and Pyithu Hluttaw addressing the President, State Counsellor and Commander-in-Chief. The letter was sent on May 9,” said U Aung Htay, chairperson of Western Door Region Relief Organization.

Six out of 275 men from Kyauktan village were killed and eight others injured by gunfire during 14 days of interrogation and three out of 27 villagers from Letka village died during the Tatmadaw’s detention for questioning.

The ongoing fighting between the Tatmadaw and AA has escalated between May 12 and 14, both sides have causalities.

One of 8 detained villagers who was injured in the shooting at Kyauktan village died at Yangon’s North Okkalapa Hospital during medical treatment, according to his family.

Since Arakan State’s salt manufacturing has been using a 30-year-old technology, the industry is struggling to move forward, said Arakan State Salt Manufacturers’ Association.

Displaced people from skirmishes who took refuge in some monasteries in Sittwe were told by authorities to return home by May 12, said a senior monk from Amyotha monastery who accepted war refugees.

“We released all detained villagers apart from six villagers who confessed that they are members of the AA and two other suspected villagers who have been under interrogation, said Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun, secretary of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team.