The Arakan State Administration Council (ASAC) of Myanmar’s military regime has urged local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Arakan State to try and look for markets by taking advantage of an ongoing exhibition of local products.

Despite the latest ceasefire, Myanmar’s military regime continues to restrict the supply of medicines from Arakan State’s Kyauktaw to Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State.

An administrator in Minbya’s Okkarpyan Ward, Arakan State, has been charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA), according to family members. 

Local residents continue to leave Arakan State for foreign countries to work amid continuing instability and high unemployment in the region.

Local residents in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have called on authorities to handle a chaotic parking situation along the street leading to the central market.

The number of migratory birds entering Arakan State this fall has decreased due to climate change and a scarcity of feeding and nesting grounds for bird species, according to an environmental conservation group in the state. 

Paddy yields are reportedly lower this year and farmers are facing financial losses due to climate change’s effects on the rice paddy harvesting season, high input costs, poor paddy prices and armed conflict in Arakan State.

Myanmar’s military regime is reportedly not ready to hold informal talks on the issue of sustainable peace-building with seven signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

Residents of Yadanarbon Village, part of Tanintharyi Region’s Bokpyin Township on the Myanmar-Thai border, were reportedly forced to relocate by the military regime.

Betel nut growers in Arakan State have reported a decline in demand for their products. Home-grown betel nuts are barely selling due to travel restrictions that are still in effect despite a recent ceasefire between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakan Army.

The saltwater shrimp hatcheries in Arakan State cannot even meet local demand due to a lack of technological footing, local shrimpers say.

Fighting between Myanmar’s military regime and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Namhsan Township, northern Shan State, continued on Monday, with the regime conducting airstrikes, according to sources.

Despite the latest ceasefire, reached on November 26, the Myanmar military has dispatched reinforcements to some townships in Arakan State over recent days, according to locals.

Two men from Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, who were arrested by the military in October on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA), have been charged under Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act, according to family members. 

The prices of oysters produced in Arakan State have dropped due to a decline in demand from markets outside the state, according to business owners engaged in oyster farming.

Using the occasion of Human Rights Day on Saturday, local civil society organisations (CSOs) in Arakan State called for allowing local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and CSOs to carry out humanitarian operations without restrictions.

Myanmar’s military regime is planning to restart the Nayputaung marble stone production project in Taungup Township, Arakan State, drawing criticism from local residents. The project was suspended under the now ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

Local people have called on Myanmar’s military regime to lift the nighttime curfew in Arakan State.

Kyetsin Bridge on the Minbya-Myebon road, which was blocked off by the regime amid renewed hostilities between the military and Arakan Army (AA), was reopened to traffic on Saturday morning, according to local residents and bus drivers.