Some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State have been facing drinking water shortages ahead of summer’s onset, according to IDPs. 

Locals from Pihtu village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township are worried that clashes might break out there as both Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) troops remain stationed nearby.

Some employees of the Department of Immigration and Population in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, are unduly demanding money from those who apply for household certificates and National Registration Cards (NRCs), according to locals. 

People sheltering on the banks of the Thaungyin River at the Thai border, having fled clashes around Phalu Lay village in Kayin State, had to relocate to Mae Sot, Thailand, due to airstrikes and artillery fire by junta forces on January 14, according to local sources.

Many Muslims in Arakan State have faced movement restrictions since the state’s 2012 communal conflict. Moreover, if they are found trying to travel outside the state, authorities frequently arrest and send them back to Arakan State. 

Two children were injured when an explosive remnant of war (ERW) exploded outside Paung Toke Ywar Thit village, in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township, on Monday afternoon. 

Boats providing transportation services along the Sittwe-Buthidaung waterway have to load and unload both passengers and cargo in the middle of the Mayu River as there is no pier for them at Oakpho village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township.

The reserve is the second largest mangrove forest in Southeast Asia, but environmentalists point out that it is shrinking rapidly due to logging for firewood and charcoal. 

Residents of Yay Kauk and Payit, two villages in Arakan State’s Thandwe Township that have been relocated because they were previously in the Thahtay Chaung hydropower project area, have not yet received full compensation. 

With a lack of physicians at cottage hospitals in some Arakan State townships, residents want authorities to promptly assign doctors where necessary as Myanmar’s public health sector faces unprecedented challenges amid the Covid-19 pandemic and post-coup difficulties with hospital staffing.

A healthcare worker who told local media that a white flag was raised on a hill where the Myanmar military is stationed in Paletwa Township, Chin State, has been held on remand for further investigation, according to family members of the accused.

Former Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu and a former municipal minister for the state, U Min Aung, who have been facing additional election-related charges, appeared before the Sittwe Township Court on January 14 via video conferencing. 

Clashes between the Myanmar military and the Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) have forced residents of Kayah State’s Loikaw,  Demoso and Hpruso townships to seek refuge in nearby displacement camps.

Myanmar’s junta issued a letter on January 12 ordering the arrest of education workers who have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in Kyaikto Township, Mon State.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the military junta that seized power last year on the grounds that Myanmar’s November 2020 general election was rigged, has said that another election will be held in August 2023.

The Myanmar military conducted airstrikes in clashes this week with the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the Karen National Union (KNU), in Kawkareik Township, Kayin State, according to local sources.

About K17 billion ($9.6 million) will be spent in a budget appropriation this year to repair roads and bridges in Arakan State, according to the state’s Road and Bridge Department, which is part of the Ministry of Construction.

Locals say the water level at Latsay Lake, which supplies water to Mrauk-U, Arakan State, has changed due to silt and trash, and the water is no longer suitable for drinking.

Dozens of motorists have been fined for failing to heed road rules accompanying the recent implementation of a one-way traffic scheme in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, police said.