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.

More than 120 organisations called for a halt to military offensives on June 20, commemorated globally as World Refugee Day, demanding an end to armed conflict so that war refugees might return home. 

Fifty-four people who had been trapped by fighting near Sauk Khat village in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township for 12 days were rescued on June 20, according to the rescuers.

Seating arrangements on board ferries transporting passengers between the Arakan State capital Sittwe and its outlying townships are under scrutiny in the age of coronavirus.

Seventy-eight organisations including political parties, civil society groups and media outlets have sent an open letter to Myanmar’s president and state counsellor requesting that they lift the one-year-old internet ban imposed in seven Arakan State townships and Chin State’s Paletwa Township. 

Security personnel are suspected of helping to transport people who recently entered northern Arakan State illegally from Bangladesh, according to presidential spokesperson U Zaw Htay.

Farmers in Arakan State are expressing concern about their ability to safely grow crops in war-torn parts of the state, as regular clashes continue to kill, injure and displace civilians.

A woman was injured when a passenger bus was reportedly sprayed by bullets on the Yangon-Sittwe road near Kyauk Seik village in Ponnagyun Township on June 19, according to residents. 

Election preparations are proceeding as planned ahead of the 2020 vote in Arakan State, where ongoing conflict has raised doubts about the feasibility of holding the polls in just a few months’ time.