Some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in downtown Buthidaung, Arakan State, are currently facing food shortages due to lack of donations from well-wishers, according to IDP camp officials.

Activists are asking for donations to fund surgery for a Mrauk-U Township resident who was injured in a landmine blast in June 2019.

The Directorate of Hotels and Tourism in Arakan State is aiming to make Gwa Township a new destination for travellers as part of larger efforts to develop the state’s tourism industry, said U Ye Aung Moe, manager of the directorate. 

The Arakan State government sent a letter to the National-Level Central Committee on Prevention, Control and Treatment of COVID-19 on January 12 requesting that border trade camps be allowed to resume operations since infection rates are decreasing, said U Kyaw Aye Thein, the Arakan State minister for Finance, Revenue, Planning and Economics. 

An Arakan State MP submitted a proposal to the state parliament on Tuesday urging the state government to give special attention to landmine clearance so that internally displaced people (IDPs) are able to return home and rehabilitate safely.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) foresees the withdrawal of its designation of the Arakan Army (AA) as a terrorist organisation, pending clarifications to be presented by the Tatmadaw. 

A proposal in the Arakan State Hluttaw on January 11 urged the union government via its Arakan State counterpart to rescind the designation of the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army as terrorist groups in order to build eternal peace. 

Forty-three civil society organisations (CSOs) including prominent signatories Athan, Land in Our Hands, Rakhine Youth New Generation Network, Rakhine Ethnics Congress and Generation Wave, issued a joint statement on January 10 demanding that recent lawsuits against human rights activists be withdrawn.

Tatmadaw soldiers have been accused of taking 700 baskets of paddy in Marlar (Arakan) village, Kyauktaw Township, while residents there were fleeing the Arakan State conflict.

 One woman was killed and nine others were injured by an explosion on January 10 in Sabar Htar village, Minbya Township, according to local villagers. 

Five out of 99 Muslims being detained at a facility on the University of Computer Studies campus in Yangon Region’s Shwepyithar Township tested positive for COVID-19, according to U Yan Aung Min, a Yangon Region lawmaker. 

The Tatmadaw has not given security guarantees for prospective make-up elections in Arakan State constituencies where voting was cancelled on November 8, according to U Zaw Htay, a spokesman for the President’s Office. 

The rate of COVID-19 infection has declined significantly in Arakan State since December, according to the state Department of Public Health. 

A bus terminal and night market will be built in Ngapali town, which hosts the popular beach of the same name in Thandwe Township, in an effort to bolster area tourism, said U Ye Aung Moe, manager of the Directorate of Hotels and Tourism in Arakan State.

Amazing Ngapali Resort, a well-known hotel in the Arakan State beach town of Ngapali, is under lockdown after a guest tested positive for COVID-19. 

A total of 362 people were arrested on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army during the two years of fighting between the Tatmadaw and the ethnic armed group in Arakan State, according to data compiled by the Thazin Legal Institute. 

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.