Submission of a final proposal intended to put Mrauk-U on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites has been put off till next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and regional instability, officials said.

The Myanmar government’s peace negotiators and the Northern Alliance are planning to meet next month, according to the Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG), which is brokering talks between the two sides. 

The Manaung Township General Administration Department (GAD) in Arakan State said it has submitted a request to the state government to provide compensation to farmers whose lands were confiscated in the construction of a dam to supply drinking water for the township’s Pyinkauk village.

The United Nations and humanitarian partners say about 1 million people in conflict-affected parts of Myanmar are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Sixteen development organisations and ethnic farmers groups have called on the incoming government to suspend national land law reform efforts, saying the existing “central and unitary Constitution by nature contradicts customary land management systems and ignores ethnic federal demands.”  

Myanmar citizens in Japan have called for the immediate release of political prisoners including the prominent Arakanese politician Dr. Aye Maung and detained student activists. 

Thirteen members of the Forest Department staff in Arakan State’s Taungup Township were transferred elsewhere after a large haul of illegally logged timber was seized in the township last year. 

More than 4,400 healthcare workers in Arakan State have begun receiving their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine donated by India, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. 

A National League for Democracy (NLD) delegation that has been holding discussions with ethnic political parties has not officially offered talks with the Arakan National Party (ANP), according to officials from the latter. 

Myanmar’s first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine will inoculate healthcare workers in Myanmar against the deadly virus, but some worry that the shot, which has been supplied to healthcare workers in Arakan State as elsewhere, will have side effects. 

The internally displaced people (IDPs) taking shelter in an IDP camp at No. 3 primary school in downtown Rathedaung, Arakan State, are struggling to meet basic needs such as food, accommodation and healthcare, according to aid workers and camp officials.

The Northern Alliance — a military coalition comprised of four ethnic armed groups including the Arakan Army (AA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) — is still in the process of negotiating a government peace offer proffered earlier this month.

Six media organisations released a statement on January 25 urging the military to lodge a complaint with the Myanmar Press Council (MPC) before seeking remedy through the court system, in reference to a recent lawsuit brought against a reporter and editor for Development Media Group (DMG). 

The local court in Arakan State’s Taungup Township will hear closing arguments in the case of two former Taungup Township development committee chairmen who were arrested in May along with two others over their alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA).

The Women’s Network Rakhine State (WNRS) organised an anti-hate speech campaign on January 23 in several Arakan State townships. 

Pyin Kauk village in Manaung Township, Arakan State, host to crowd-drawing coral reef just off its coast, will be designated a community-based tourism (CBT) village, according to the state’s Directorate of Hotels and Tourism.

Officials say they are planning to return 99 Muslims to Arakan State after they arrived in Yangon Region’s Shwepyithar Township without any documents and were arrested earlier this month. 

The Arakan State Department of Public Health has said it will start vaccinating against COVID-19 for a total of 4,300 health workers in the state starting January 27. 

The Myanmar government and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have teamed up to educate internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State about the risks of landmines.