A court in Ramree Township has sentenced a leading member of a local youth network to 15 days in prison or a K20,000 (US$13.80) fine after he organised a protest against a one-year-old internet ban affecting several Arakan State townships.

Thousands of residents from villages in the southern part of Rathedaung Township, Arakan State, have fled their homes after artillery shells allegedly fired by the Tatmadaw landed in their villages on June 24. 

Twelve people detained while transporting rice for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyauktaw Township appeared before the Mrauk-U District Court on June 23. 

Fighting flared between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army near the town of Rathedaung on Wednesday evening, with a man living at an IDP camp in the town injured by stray gunfire.

The Kyauktada Township police station in Yangon has filed a case under the Peaceful Assembly Law against five activists who organised a protest over the weekend calling for the restoration of internet access in Arakan and Chin states.

Sanitary pads are an often-overlooked essential for women sheltering at camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State, according to female IDPs. 

The Tatmadaw has not deployed troops at religious sites in Arakan State, the secretary of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team insisted at a news conference on June 23 in Nay Pyi Taw. 

Crab exports from Arakan State are rebounding, albeit tepidly, after they were suspended for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to local players in the crabbing industry.

Agricultural loans during the COVID-19 crisis will be increased by K50,000 (US$35) per farmland acre, and disbursement began in Kyaukphyu, Sittwe and Thandwe townships on June 22, according to U Aye Thein, manager of the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank in Arakan State. 

A Tatmadaw spokesperson said the leaking of sensitive information about military operations and positions was one of the primary reasons for an internet ban in parts of Arakan State that entered its second year over the weekend.

More police officers have been deployed to restive Arakan State, where the Arakan Army has launched a number of armed attacks on law enforcement personnel, said Police Maj-Gen Myo Swe Win, deputy chief of the Myanmar Police Force (MPF).

Three police officers and a civilian were killed in an attack by the Arakan Army (AA) on a convoy of border guard police near Koetankauk village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township on June 22, according to a Tatmadaw press release.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) who returned to their villages to farm in late May amid hopes that conflict in their respective townships had abated are facing challenges in an unusual growing season.

Political parties based in Arakan State will meet with the Union Election Commission (UEC) on June 27 ahead of Myanmar’s general election, with the nationwide vote expected in November.

With Myanmar’s general election slated for November, the Tatmadaw is pledging its full backing and security assistance, Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun said at a news conference on June 22 in Nay Pyi Taw.

Police have filed a case against a leading member of the Ramree Township Youth Network who was among a group of activists over the weekend calling on the government to lift its long-running internet ban in Myanmar’s west, according to the network.

One of five Muslim men known to have entered Arakan State illegally from Bangladesh was reported in Maungdaw Township on June 21 and the other four are being sought by authorities, according to U Soe Aung, deputy commissioner of Maungdaw District.

A 13-year-old who sold snacks in Sittwe was found unresponsive with a head injury on June 19 and died the next day while receiving medical treatment, with the girl’s unexplained death attracting much public interest in the Arakan State capital.