Following formal outreach from Myanmar’s incumbent and incoming National League for Democracy (NLD) government, 14 of 48 ethnic political parties that were addressed in that communique had replied indicating support for the shared agenda described in the November 12 letter as of December 10, according to Dr. Myo Nyunt, spokesperson for the NLD. 

Lawmakers and civil society organisations took the occasion of Human Rights Day on December 10 to call for an end to human rights violations in Arakan State, including unlawful civilian arrests and in several cases a subsequent lack of information on the detainees’ whereabouts.  

More than 50 civil society organisations called for amending laws that pose a threat to human rights in a joint statement released to coincide with Human Rights Day, observed each year globally on December 10.  

Internally displaced people in Sittwe say they are concerned about what their futures might hold after a monk from a monastery where IDPs in the Arakan State capital are taking refuge tested positive for COVID-19.

Women’s rights activists have called on the government to redouble its efforts to combat violence against women and do justice for victims of violence. 

Real estate prices in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have risen by up to three times their going rates of five years ago, and the local government has a responsibility to keep prices in check, said U San Shar Maung, secretary of the Arakan State Real Property Development Association. 

Three youths arrested over a human rights demonstration in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on Thursday morning were released on bail at about 5 p.m. the same day, according to the detainees.

Police have allegedly threatened villagers in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township who sought to report missing persons for a second time after their family members were reportedly detained by the military in March, with their whereabouts still unknown. 

The Union Election Commission (UEC) has not divulged anything about prospects for holding make-up elections in Arakan State townships where voting was cancelled on November 8, with no signs of the groundwork that would be required if elections were to be held in these areas in the near-term, said the Arakan Election Monitoring and Observation Consortium.       

A vendor headed to sell pork at Wai Lar Taung village in northern Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township came across members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on December 9 and his motorbike was torched, according to U Kyaw Maung Thein, the administrator of neighbouring Khamaungseik village. 

A total of 144 general election candidates had submitted their campaign expenses in Arakan State as of December 9, with 10 still to report, according to the relevant district election subcommissions.

Despite a military spokesman’s insistence last month that families of people arrested in connection with the Arakan State conflict can learn more about their detentions through local police departments, some of those family members say in practice, this isn’t producing satisfactory outcomes. 

As the number of coronavirus-related fatalities in Arakan State has surpassed 30 in recent days, town elders in Sittwe said lax adherence to public health regulations was to blame for at least some of the deaths reported since an outbreak that began in mid-August.  

Myanmar’s Union Election Commission (UEC) has rejected a military request that the former entity provide copies of election-related documents to facilitate the latter’s review of the November 8 general election. 

While most students in Myanmar attend online classes due to the coronavirus-related closure of schools this year, children and young adults in northern Arakan State are missing out on many educational opportunities as a result of government-imposed restrictions on internet access. 

Souvenir wholesalers and retailers are facing livelihood difficulties as few travellers are visiting Ngapali Beach in Thandwe Township, Arakan State’s premier seaside destination, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rights of minors enshrined in the Child Rights Law are routinely violated in areas of armed conflict across Myanmar including Arakan State, where two years of hostilities have killed scores of civilians and wounded hundreds more, with numerous children among the casualties. 

Where once it was said that hundreds of thousands of people were engaged in artisanal oil extraction in Manaung Township, Arakan State, these days far fewer amateur oilmen are involved in the trade. 

Arakanese youth in Japan staged a demonstration at Tokyo’s Hibiya Park on Sunday afternoon, calling for holding elections in the nine Arakan State townships where voting was cancelled last month.