A sugar mill in Kyauktaw town, which was the lone sugar refinery in Arakan State, has been closed for more than a year, resulting in livelihood difficulties for over 100 mill workers, they said.

Facing famine, moneys living on Thaylar Giri Mawra Patta Mountain, a famous pilgrimage site in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, are being forced down the mountain where they can be found asking for food from passers-by, according to the local pagoda board of trustees.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) are demanding guarantees for the return of local people displaced by the armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State. 

The Arakan State Directorate of Hotels and Tourism has allowed 40 out of 98 hotels and guest houses in the state to resume operations. Hotels were ordered to shut down after the second wave of COVID-19 hit the state in mid-August.

Local governments, the Tatmadaw and the state legislature are taking joint steps for peace in Arakan State, said U San Kyaw Hla, Speaker of the Arakan State parliament.

The Arakan State Hluttaw has endorsed a proposal urging the Union government to restore 4G internet services in parts of the state currently denied that access as more than 600,000 people in the area have lost rights to information as a result of the existing online restrictions. 

More than 5,000 tonnes of illegal timber worth over K400 million ($300,000) was confiscated in Arakan State from January to December last year, according to the Arakan State Forest Department.  

Teachers from private schools and boarding schools in Arakan State are facing difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to U Myint Thaung, chair of the Private School Teachers’ Association in Sittwe.  

Internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled homes in Marlar village in Kyauktaw Township staged a protest on Tuesday afternoon demanding six points, including that they be allowed to go to their home village to recover their property and personal possessions. 

The Diverse and United Communities of Arakan have called on the Union government to seek the consent of local residents before approving any local and foreign investments and projects in Arakan State.

Since a primary school building in Ann Township’s Sae Shay village is deteriorating, villagers want the government to restore the building.

The Arakan Students’ Union has criticised the government for detaining anti-war student protesters for more than three months without trial. 

All camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) will be inspected for the return of IDPs as fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army has stopped in Arakan State, according to Colonel Min Than, Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs.

The Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the deployment of troops in Arakan State, and the Tatmadaw will take responsibility for clearing landmines, said Col. Min Than, Arakan State minister for Security and Border Affairs.

The Ministry of Education has announced that it has arranged to see scores of the 2020 matriculation exams at the website of the Department of Myanmar Examinations through mobile phone or alternative online means free of charge as of January 17.

The Arakan Students’ Union campaigned on Friday morning at the central market in Sittwe, calling for the unconditional release of students detained in prisons across Myanmar for anti-war campaigns, as well as all other political prisoners. 

A proposal urging the Union government to restore 4G internet in those Arakan State townships where only 2G internet is currently provided was submitted to the Arakan State Hluttaw on January 14. 

Three activists who are facing charges under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law over a human rights demonstration in the Arakan State capital Sittwe last month have said they will ask the state high court to drop the charges. 

The Arakan State Hluttaw on Thursday approved a motion to remove the Arakan Army (AA) from being designated a terrorist organisation in order to build lasting peace.