There are 17.6 million people in Myanmar who need humanitarian assistance, of which some 1.7 million people are from Arakan State, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Myanmar said in a statement this week.

The eighth court hearing was held on Thursday, but the Maungdaw Township Court still could not start the trial as the complainant again failed to appear.

Several political parties, including the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), have begun campaigning in Mon State for an election that Myanmar’s military regime intends to hold later this year.

A Muslim refugee camp on the Bangladesh side of the border near Taungpyo Letyar in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, was torched Wednesday evening following fighting between two Rohingya armed groups.

Growers in Arakan State say they need technology and support from business owners for the agricultural industry to develop.

The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) has surpassed 16,000 due to renewed fighting in Kyainnseikgyi Township, Kayin (Karen) State, since January 17, and the IDPs are in urgent need of food, medicine and shelter, according to aid workers.

The deputy military chief of the Arakan Army (AA), Dr. Nyo Twan Awng, will give a talk on January 20 addressing the important role played by healthcare workers in Myanmar’s revolution against the military dictatorship.

A young local man from Panphetan Village in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township was severely wounded in a landmine explosion on Wednesday, according to a family member.

Chickpea, which is mainly shipped to Arakan State from mainland Myanmar, is being experimentally cultivated in Arakan State, and trial cultivations have thus far been successful, according to the Arakan State Department of Agriculture.

Five years after a reservoir was established in Thaing Kyaung Village-tract in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, locals are still unable to get water from the reservoir despite annual water shortages.

Many borrowers in Arakan State still can’t pay back loans provided as part of the Mya Sein Yaung (Emerald Green) loan provision program due to regional instability, director U Oo Chit Maung of the Arakan State Rural Development Department told DMG.

Summer paddy is mainly grown in townships such as Arakan State’s Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Rathedaung and Minbya, and the cultivation of summer paddy this year has increased by almost two times compared with last year.

Security has been tightened in Thandwe and Sittwe, with rumours circulating that junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will be visiting Arakan State, according to town residents.

A woman from Arakan State working in Yangon has been missing for seven days, but family members have not yet been able to contact her.

Three local men from Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township who were charged under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code, were slapped with an additional count under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act during a hearing on Monday, according to family members.

A source close to the KNU said the road section was closed because of the heavy fighting between the military and an anti-regime coalition led by Brigade 6 of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Kyainnseiggyi Township.

A 19-year-old man drowned in the Maei Creek in Maei town, Arakan State, at around 4 p.m. on January 14, according to sources close to the deceased.

Brickmakers in Arakan State are struggling due to increased production costs and licence fees, while at the same time demand is declining. 

Disability rights activists say the majority of disabled people in Arakan State are supported by their family members, and that there is a need to conduct vocational training courses for them.