With seafood fetching low prices and commodity prices surging due to political instability, many in the fisheries business in Kyaukphyu Township are facing livelihood difficulties.

The Sittwe District Court has postponed hearing the cases of Kyaukseik and Lekka villagers who were charged under the Counter-Terrorism Law to April 23, after the prosecution witnesses failed to show up at a court hearing on Friday.

Six Muslims who are alleged to have illegally crossed the border fence with Bangladesh were arrested on April 8 near Chaung Pauk Wa station in northern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State.

The seventh Tankhoe Saya Tun literary award presentation was held in the village of Tankhoe, the hometown of Saya Tun, in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township, on Thursday evening.

In 2020, a viss of cashew nuts fetched K8,000 at their peak, which coincided with the worst disruptions to agriculture and commerce caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year they are fetching prices of up to K12,000/viss.

Some seafood wholesale businesses in Arakan State have suspended operations due to instability in the country following the military’s seizure of power on February 1, resulting in workers from the fishery industry in hardships.

About 3,000 Arakanese migrant workers have returned from Yangon since March amid political turmoil in the commercial capital, according to Arakanese organisations that are assisting the migrant labourers.

A landmine explosion occurred near Taung Ywar (Muslim) village in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, on April 8, injuring six children; four girls and two boys.

Gunfire was reported on Friday afternoon outside the Yoma Bank building in the Arakan State capital Sittwe, with a soldier reportedly injured, residents said.

The prices of goods imported from central Myanmar into Arakan State have increased by up to 50%, said U Khin Maung Gyi, vice chair of the Rakhine Economic Initiative Public Co Ltd.

With Myanmar in a more politically tenuous position than it has been in decades, the prominent Arakanese politician Dr. Aye Maung has questioned the merits of a document considered by many to be foundational to modern Myanmar’s origin story.

A court in Sittwe on Wednesday heard the plaintiff in the case of ousted Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu, who has been charged with incitement under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code. 

More than one-third of reported casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) encounters in Myanmar are children, according to UNICEF Myanmar, which said Arakan State has the highest rate of reported child casualties, with children accounting for 47% of the total. 

The death toll during the so-called Spring Revolution in Myanmar reached 581 on April 6, and the number of people detained since the February 1 military coup totalled 2,750, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). 

A total of 53 reporters have been detained or prosecuted since the military coup on February 1, said journalist U Myint Kyaw, citing data from fellow members of the media.

Fish and prawn prices in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, have fallen by more than 50% following the Tatmadaw’s seizure of power on February 1, seafood traders say.

Wave Money agents in Arakan State are facing cash shortages and people are spending money on transportation and face difficulties overnighting as they wait to take out money at locations some distance from their hometowns and villages.

Amid growing concerns over an increased Tatmadaw presence in Arakan State, the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank formed by ex-military officers, has suggested that there is little chance of fresh clashes erupting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA).  

To solve the annual summer water shortages affecting the town of Minbya, Arakan State, its Development Affairs Committee has arranged to supply water from Phalaung Pyin reservoir via a pumping station.