Ethnic groups in Arakan State are asking that the Arakan National Party (ANP), which won the most seats in Arakan in the November 8 general election, be allowed to form the state government.              

U Zaw Htay, a spokesman for the President’s Office, said the government would discuss ceasefire prospects with the four ethnic armies of the Northern Alliance on a case-by-case basis. 

Myanmar’s military (or Tatmadaw) and police are conducting investigations into the death of a Kyauktaw resident whose dismembered body was found along a riverbank in the township after the Tatmadaw’s alleged abduction of him last July. 

The Tatmadaw True News Information Team released a statement on January 7 urging the relevant organisations to hold make-up elections soonest in nine Arakan State townships and in Mongkaing Township, Shan State, where voting was cancelled in November. 

Myanmar’s Ministry of Education has instructed basic education schools in Arakan State to prepare for the resumption of classes in line with COVID-19 prevention regulations, said the state’s Head of Education Office.

A campaign was launched in Arakan State’s Ann Township on January 6 to demand the unconditional release of all Arakanese people arrested under various sections of the law. 

Ninety-nine Muslims who were arrested on January 6 in Shwepyithar Township, Yangon Region, will be tested for COVID-19 and are currently under quarantine at the University of Computer Studies in Shwepyithar, local lawmaker U Yan Aung Min told DMG.

A joint team including Tatmadaw and police personnel as well as township and ward administrators will “inspect” 15 camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mrauk-U Township, with camp managers anticipating that the visits will focus on why the IDPs present have not returned to their homes. 

The government has offered to meet with the four Northern Alliance members, including the Arakan Army (AA), in hopes of reaching a ceasefire agreement as soon as this month, according to U Lamai Gun Jar, a member of the Peace-talk Creation Group.

A farmer was murdered and another went missing from their farm huts about 1.5 kilometres from Kyaw Zan village in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township on Tuesday.  

The Arakan National Party and other Arakan State-based ethnic political parties will meet on Thursday at the ANP’s main office in Sittwe to address the political issues affecting their state, officials from the parties said. 

The Chin State government is arranging for internally displaced people (IDPs) to return home as it has been about two months since fighting was last reported between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army in southern Chin’s Paletwa Township. 

Residents in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun Township have called on the military to reopen the Ponnagyun-Rathedaung road, nine months into a Tatmadaw blockade of the road that was instituted citing security reasons.

The Tatmadaw must present the results of its talks with the Arakan Army (AA) to the government in order for the ethnic armed group to have its designation as a terrorist organisation rescinded, according to Dr. Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD).  

A woman from Khabaw village in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, sustained severe injuries on January 4 after stepping on a landmine while she was heading to cut firewood with her sister east of the village, said U Kyaw Hla Htwee, the younger brother of the victim. 

The Tatmadaw has reopened roads to Darlet village-tract in Arakan State’s Ann Township that had been closed for more than a year for security reasons, allowing the overland transportation of goods starting from December 30, according to locals. 

Healthcare workers will be the first in Myanmar to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and should expect to receive the shots starting in February, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in a New Year’s speech to the nation on Friday. 

Four members of the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) who were detained by the Arakan Army (AA) have been released, according to Khaing Soe Mra, a captain from the ALP.

In her New Year’s speech to the nation, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she is prepared to take “new approaches” to the inclusion of armed groups that are not signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) during the next government’s five-year term.