As regional COVID-19 infection rates continue to rise, Arakan State’s Mrauk-U District is in need of more healthcare workers, according to local health officials.

A brawl broke out in the village of Kywe Htoe, Ponnagyun Township, this week after the village administrator allegedly misappropriated funds provided by the government for low-income families in the village.  

An internally displaced person (IDP) sheltering at Saphokyun Kanpyin IDP camp in Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, was shot amid a barrage of gunfire reportedly from a naval vessel stationed nearby on October 5, according to locals. 

Ward and village administrators are drawing attention to the case of a fellow administrator from Tawkan village in Arakan State’s Sittwe Township who was recently arrested by Tatmadaw troops.  

The Maungdaw District election subcommission has annulled the 2020 candidacy of a Muslim man who had been contesting the Pyithu Hluttaw seat for Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, with the unexpected decision coming after he was issued paperwork certifying his eligibility. 

More than 70 civil society organisations have issued a joint statement condemning legal actions taken against students who staged recent anti-government protests demanding an end to conflict and the restoration of internet access in Arakan and Chin states. 

A recent Tatmadaw announcement that two arrested residents of Theintan village in Sittwe Township are members of the Arakan Army has been rejected by the detainees’ families.

Hostilities between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) have reportedly intensified in Rathedaung and Minbya townships amid persistent concern among local residents about an ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 in Arakan State.

Two campaign signboards for the Arakan National Party in Taungup Township’s Maei town were destroyed on October 2, according to the ANP, the latest examples of election-related vandalism in Arakan State during the general election’s canvassing period.

A ward administrator in Mrauk-U was forced to flee home after a man who described himself as a Myanmar military officer accused him of supplying food and funds to the Arakan Army (AA).

Tatmadaw troops took into their custody the administrator of Tawkan village in Arakan State’s Sittwe Township on October 3, according to his family members. 

Some Arakan State residents have complained that they are unable to check revised voter lists online, as the Union Election Commission (UEC) has advised in light of coronavirus stay-at-home orders, with restrictions on internet access still hobbling much of the state.

The Arakan State election subcommission has instructed prison officials to ensure that eligible inmates are able to vote freely in the upcoming general election, according to the subcommission.

Authorities in the Arakan State capital Sittwe have warned that as of the second week in October, legal action will be taken against anyone found outside of their home without special “permission cards” that will be issued to each household in the coming days. 

Hostilities between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) flared for two days straight in Minbya Township amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in conflict-torn Arakan State, according to locals. 

Two men from Theintan village in Sittwe Township, Arakan State, were detained by the Tatmadaw on October 1, family members of the arrestees said.  

Two residents of Padar village in Arakan State’s Taungup Township were arrested by security personnel on October 1, family members of the detainees said.

Healthcare services are said to be urgently needed for internally displaced people (IDPs) as the number of sick people is increasing at IDP camps in Arakan State, which has the second-highest coronavirus infection rate in Myanmar. 

The number of people internally displaced (IDPs) due to ongoing conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army has increased by more than 36,000 over the past three months, according to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC), which put the total IDP tally at 226,800.