Civil society organisations in Arakan State are stepping up to help address chronic seasonal water shortages amid a sense that the state government has proved unable or unwilling to tackle the issue.  

An Arakan State-based civil society organisation has urged Arakanese people not to overindulge in Thingyan revelries amid the Myanmar military’s lethal crackdowns on anti-regime protesters across the country. 

The United Nations says more than 500 civilians, including several children, have been killed by security forces since the military seized power in Myanmar, with the world body calling for a strong international response to the bloodshed. 

The Shwe Yaung Metta Foundation, a Sittwe-based charity group, is facing difficulties to provide help transporting emergency patients due to fewer donors, executives of the foundation said.

World Vision has called on Myanmar security forces to cease violence against children, saying that through March 29, more than 40 of 510 civilian deaths documented amid crackdowns on anti-regime protesters were children. 

Many internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State are not ready to return to their villages, according to Arakan Army spokesperson Khaing Thukha.

The earthenwares business in Myebon Township has begun to fade due to the substitution of plastic receptibles in households across the region and beyond, said the owner of an earthenware business in Myebon town for nearly 40 years.

IDP camps in Arakan State are in need of fire hazard prevention accessories, according to officials of the camps and people who provide assistance to the IDPs. 

A ruling in the case of four people — including the chairman of the Taungup Township Development Committee — charged with terrorism has been postponed, according to a lawyer representing the defendants. 

The Myanmar military’s brutal violence against peaceful anti-regime protesters is unacceptable, said Arakan Army (AA) spokesman Khaing Thukha. 

With no pipeline or pumping facilities to distribute water from reservoirs in Minbya, residents of the town say they are facing water scarcity year after year.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Myanmar has urged security forces “to take all possible measures to ensure that the use of force and firearms is strictly controlled,” following a weekend in which scores of people were reportedly killed by police and military personnel. 

New shelters are being built at the Tin Nyo camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township after hundreds of shelters were destroyed in a fire on March 17, according to the camp manager.

An investigation into the disappearance of 18 residents of Tinma village in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, has yet to conclude, according to a member of the state-level military government. 

More than 200,000 mangrove seedlings were planted across three Arakan State townships in 2020, according to Ko Myo Lwin, who headed up the mangrove afforestation effort.

Residents of Minbya town in Arakan State are worried about fire hazards at the new Kin Seik market, a space that was built for roadside vendors but, because there are currently no vendors, is instead being used by a group of people as a sheltered place to imbibe.

Internally displaced people (IDPs), civil society organisations (CSOs) and charity groups in Arakan State have called on the state-level Administrative Council to walk the walk with its promise to provide accommodation and other supplies to returning IDPs. 

The Karen National Union (KNU) and the Tatmadaw clashed in Thee Mu Hta along the Myanmar-Thai border at 6:15 a.m. on March 27, according to a press statement from the ethnic armed group. 

Residents in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U and Minbya townships are appealing to local authorities to complete a new bridge linking the two townships as soon as possible.