With the passport office in the Arakan State capital Sittwe packed with people desperate to leave Myanmar amid rising unemployment and costs of living, brokers are profiting from the country’s increasingly grim economic outlook.

The Arakan Army (AA) will impose checks on vehicles and vessels in Arakan State, said AA spokesman U Khaing Thukha, alleging that Myanmar’s military regime has been bringing in reinforcements by both public and private means of transport.

In an attempt to retake military camps lost to the Arakan Army (AA), the Myanmar military has launched attacks in Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, and Paletwa Township, Chin State, in recent days, according to U Khaing Thukha, spokesman for the ethnic armed group. 

More than 100 internally displaced people (IDPs) at the Myatanzaung displacement camp in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township are facing livelihood hardships, according to camp officials.

Myanmar’s military junta has detained at least 30 youth activists in Dawei, Tanintharyi Region, this month, according to the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM).

Phone and mobile internet services have been cut off in Moebye, Shan State, amid intense fighting between junta troops and the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), according to a source from the KNDF. 

At least seven people were arrested by the Myanmar military in Kyaukphyu, Arakan State, in the second week of this month alone, according to locals. 

Risking arrest and prosecution with potential imprisonment of up to five years, Muslims in Arakan State continue to attempt to leave Arakan State to work elsewhere in the country or abroad. 

Village administrators in Arakan State are concerned about their safety following the Myanmar’s regime’s detention of administrators from areas that have seen heightened military tensions between the military and the Arakan Army (AA).

A fire outbreak at Pann Myaung Village, Minbya Township, on Sunday resulted in financial losses of K84 million and left dozens of people homeless, according to Rakhine Daily, an Arakan State-based and junta-linked media outlet. Local residents say the actual losses are much higher.

The residents of villages surrounding recent hostilities between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Chin State’s Paletwa Township are having difficulty harvesting paddy due to the fighting between the two armies. 

Military-linked products and services still enjoy high demand in many parts of Arakan State despite recent calls for a boycott of them. 

The Myanmar military detained three local men in Kyaukphyu, Arakan State, where the Arakan Army and military junta have traded arrests in recent days, on September 12, according to locals.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Bago Region’s Kyaukkyi and Mone townships are in urgent need of medicine as the number of people in poor health is increasing during the rainy season, according to Karen civil society organisations.

A civilian who suffered a leg injury in fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) some two years ago requires medical and financial assistance as his leg wound is not recovering.

A local man from Thamin Chayyar Village in Arakan State’s Minbya Township was severely wounded in a landmine explosion on Sunday. 

Transport authorities have instructed the Shwe Pyi Tan express boat line to suspend its operations between the Arakan State capital Sittwe and Mrauk-U since August 29, according to manager U San Maw Thein. 

Eighteen unexploded bombs, believed to date back to World War II, were unearthed within the compound of the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications office in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township on Friday morning. 

A child was killed and three civilians were injured in a shelling after junta troops clashed with a coalition led by the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) in Moebye town, southern Shan State, on September 8 and 9, according to locals.