Local residents and civil society organisations (CSOs) in Arakan State have reported a rise in crimes, saying the worrying trend is the result of weak rule of law.

Junta soldiers and police who have been stationed in the vicinity of the Mahamuni Buddha image in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw arrested a resident of Thayettapin village and two others at around noon on Monday, according to family members.

The Myanmar military has warned local residents in Arakan State’s Manaung Township to steer clear of the Arakan Army (AA), and not to support the ethnic armed group.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has acknowledged that ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar could not be implemented last year, with the coup leader citing the Covid-19 pandemic and political instability in the war-torn Southeast Asian nation.

The Interim Khumi Affairs Coordination Council (IKACC) issued an appeal to local residents living in Paletwa Township, Chin State, urging them not to cooperate with the military regime and its subordinate organisations.

Family members have not been allowed to see two youths from Pauktawpyin village in Ponnagyun Township who were arrested by the Myanmar military more than a month ago.

Rice prices have shot up in the Arakan State capital Sittwe recently, according to local rice sellers.

The Myanmar military has filed an incitement lawsuit against eight residents in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code at the Mrauk-U District Court, according to family members of the accused.

A police lieutenant was shot dead by a police constable on Friday night, according to local residents close to the police station.

The Sittwe District Court sentenced two men from Sittwe and Rathedaung townships, who were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army, to three years in prison on July 29, according to the defendants’ lawyer.

The BXT Jetty, a popular recreation area in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, has been marred by rampant littering, residents and visitors have complained.

Many workers have been laid off at rice mills in Ayeyarwady Region, the heartland of the rice milling industry in Myanmar, and are struggling to make ends meet.

Police arrested a woman from Thandwe, Arakan State, on July 27 and reportedly charged her under Section 50(j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law on suspicion of supporting the anti-regime People’s Defence Force (PDF) and the affiliated National Unity Government (NUG).

Seven out of eight residents of Kyaukphyu Township’s Sanae town and surrounding villages who were recently arrested by the Myanmar military have been released, but one man is currently being held at a military regiment in Kyaukphyu. 

The acting president of the National Unity Government (NUG), Duwa Lashi La, on Thursday accused the military junta of terrorising and threatening pro-democracy activists, whom he praised as standing for the truth and the Myanmar people. 

The residents of some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State are going hungry as they are not receiving food supplies from the Arakan State administration council, the Myanmar military regime’s governing body for Arakan, according to camp managers.

Volunteers helping migrant workers in the Myanmar town of Myawaddy on the Thai border have reported an increase in job scams this month.

Arakan State workers’ awareness about labour law and labour rights is still weaker than that of most of mainland Myanmar, according to labour advocacy organisations.

Palm oil prices have risen to more than twice the reference price set by the supervisory committee for import and distribution of edible oil under the junta’s Commerce Ministry, according to palm oil producers.