The Arakan State government plans to provide cultivation assistance for farmers in conflict-affected parts of the state who face difficulties getting their crops planted in time for the monsoon growing season, said U Kyaw Lwin, state minister for Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Mining.

The government has no plans this fiscal year to make the upgrades needed in order for international flights to land at Thandwe Airport in southern Arakan State, the gateway to Ngapali Beach.

Two men detained by a Tatmadaw column in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township on May 24 were released the following evening after a lengthy interrogation in the mountains outside their village. 

A resident of Daung Taw Yoe village in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, has gone missing after leaving home to gather vegetables at a nearby cemetery on May 23, family members said.

Houses went up in flames in the abandoned village of Meeletwa (lower) in Chin State’s Paletwa Township on May 26, according to the Chin State government. 

The younger brother of a local official in Taungup Township was taken in for questioning by Taungup police on the afternoon of May 25 and has been charged under section 50(i) of the Counter-Terrorism Law.

Count Mrauk-U’s bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site as being among the multitude of matters put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The number of Myanmar nationals returning from China to their homes in Arakan State amid the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 3,500 on May 25, according to the Arakan State Department of Disaster Management.

The University of Community Health Alumni Association on May 24 called for the immediate release of a village healthcare worker allegedly detained by the Arakan Army (AA) in Rathedaung Township earlier this month.

A ward administrator was stabbed to death by four masked assailants in the Arakan State capital Sittwe on the morning of May 25.

Two villagers from Kan Thit village in Ponnagyun Township were seriously injured by a pair of landmine blasts on May 24, according to U Kan Tun Aung, a 10-household head from the village. 

Twenty-six people from Ann Township, Arakan State, who had been detained by the Tatmadaw for about a week were released on May 23. 

The Arakan State government has been arranging to facilitate the transportation of civilians who are seriously wounded in war, State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Min Than said on May 21. 

Less than two weeks after video of five men being beaten by Tatmadaw soldiers went viral online, the victims of the “unlawful interrogations” appeared before the Sittwe District Court on May 22 and were arraigned on terrorism charges, lawyer U Kyaw Nyunt Maung told DMG.

Five men from Taungup Township’s Sar Pyin village, including the chair of the Arakan National Party’s local chapter, appeared before the Taungup Township Court on May 22, but their hearing was rescheduled for June 5 because the plaintiff was a no-show, said lawyer U Tin Nyo.

As fighting in Arakan State between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) has intensified, both national and foreign journalists are facing increasing challenges in obtaining information to report on the state’s affairs.

The last day to repay the previous monsoon season’s agricultural loans in Arakan State has been deferred to May 31 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a second extension of the original April 15 repayment date, said U Pyone Naing, manager of the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank in Manaung Township.

Arakan State’s Nantha Island and Mayyu Estuary were designated as a Ramsar wetland site on May 22, coinciding with International Day for Biological Diversity.

The onset of the southwest monsoon is due in the coming days, ushered in by Cyclone Amphan, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.