Save the Children, UNESCO and UNICEF have strongly criticised Myanmar security forces’ occupation of education facilities across the country amid bloody crackdowns on anti-regime protesters.

A checkpoint set up near Kyauk Talone Pagoda in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State, ceased inspections and had its gate dismantled on Saturday morning amid local opposition to its continued existence.

“I am facing difficulty for livelihood because I am jobless in Arakan State. I returned home because factories in Yangon are suspended due to the protests,”

Private schools in Arakan State have yet to make preparations for the coming academic year as Myanmar’s Education Ministry has not made any official announcement about the opening of basic education high schools for the 2021-22 academic year.

Young people in Myebon town want to have dustbins at Angu beach so that travellers can discard their rubbish systematically.

Some Wave Money agents in Arakan State are allegedly overcharging customers for money transfer services, those who have reportedly been overcharged told DMG.

A team from the military-run state administration council, CSOs and town elders in Arkan State’s Kyaukphyu town held a meeting on March 19 to discuss removing a checkpoint near Kyauk Talone Pagoda that was established during the COVID-19 outbreak, ostensibly to beat back spread of the virus at the time.

The Mrata Zaung Foundation is providing computer basic course training to 120 youths from Mrauk-U and Kyaukphyu townships, Mrata Zaung Sayardaw said.

Camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State are in need of fire safety equipment, camp managers told DMG following a fire that devastated the temporary shelters of more than 600 households in a blaze this week. 

The state-level military junta is moving ahead with plans to hold limited festivities for the upcoming Thingyan holiday, after celebrations were cancelled the previous two years due to the pandemic and conflict between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army.

Local residents in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township and travellers have called for the removal of a COVID-19 checkpoint near Kyauk Talone Pagoda, claiming that automobiles and motorbikes have been subjected to inspections irrelevant to pandemic measures.

A total of 663 temporary shelters were reduced to ash when a fire broke out at the Tin Nyo camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township on Wednesday evening, according to camp managers, with the blaze affecting 2,565 people.

The weaving industry in Arakan State is facing difficulties as raw materials cannot be ordered and demand for fabrics is down, tradespeople told DMG.

Long known as refuges and places of opportunity for underprivileged children from the countryside, Sittwe’s numerous monastic schools have been hard put to continue to feed and educate young people amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Some Arakanese migrant workers in Yangon are facing financial hurdles as they seek to return to Arakan State amid the political upheaval of recent weeks in the commercial capital, according to Yangon-based social organisations helping Arakanese migrants.

Pre-trial proceedings continued for ousted Arakan State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu at the Sittwe Township Court on March 17, with the defendant again appearing remotely via teleconference. 

Arakan State Happenings From March 1-15

A cattle disease has broken out at some villages in Manaung Township, Arakan State, with cow deaths reported since early March, according to residents.

Two of the three charges filed against 22 residents of Lekka village in Mrauk-U Township over their alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA) have been heard by the local court, according to defence lawyers of the accused.