The conflict in northern Arakan State has delayed the delivery of medicines as fighting has sometimes played out along transport routes, according to pharmaceutical distributors.

A total of 443 Myanmar civil society organisations issued a statement on August 13 objecting to a recent Union Election Commission decision to bar the People’s Alliance for Credible Elections (PACE) from monitoring the country’s upcoming general election. 

Four men from Kyauktalone village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township were taken from their homes by the military on August 14, according to family members of the detainees. 

Four men including the vice chair of the Arakan National Party (ANP) in Taungup Township, who have been charged under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law, appeared in court on August 12 for a hearing at which the plaintiff, Police Major Zaw Myint Tun, was questioned.

A total of 386 candidates have registered to run in Arakan State constituencies for the November general election, and 42 of them are independents, according to figures released by the state election subcommission on August 10. 

Six ethnic armed groups invited to attend the 4^th Union Peace Conference – 21^st Century Panglong to be convened on August 19 in Nay Pyi Taw will not be making the trip to the nation’s capital, the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee said on August 13.  

The head of Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Myoma police station, Police Captain Tun Naing Oo, was gunned down in front of the station on the evening of August 12, according to residents. 

Family members of a missing man from Tawpanzin village in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, have expressed concern as they have yet to receive word on his status more than four days after he was reportedly detained by the military. 

A total of 20 female candidates from Arakan State will run for parliamentary seats in the 2020 general election as advocates of women’s inclusion push for greater representation in Myanmar’s legislative bodies.

Five people including the chairperson of the local Arakan National Party (ANP) chapter in Sar Pyin village, Taungup Township, who had been charged under Myanmar’s Counter-Terrorism Law were released by the Taungup Township Court on August 12, their lawyer said.

Candidates from the main opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are slated to contest every constituency in conflict-plagued Arakan State for the 2020 general election, according to the candidate lineup unveiled by the USDP on August 12. 

A woman from Khapaw village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township was wounded by an artillery shell believed to have been fired by the military on August 11, according to family members of the victim. 

Riverbank erosion due to heavy seasonal rains and strong currents destroyed three houses recently in Thae Khone village, Pauktaw Township, according to residents.

Outbreaks of influenza, diarrhoea and other illnesses have been reported at some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State as the rainy season takes its toll on those uprooted by conflict. 

Sixty-eight out of 2,596 polling stations scheduled to be set up in Arakan State for the upcoming 2020 general election will be arranged for security personnel and their families, according to the Arakan State election subcommission.

A resident of Pazun Phay village in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township has died in military custody, according to family members of the man.  

Six candidates have registered to run for Yangon Region’s Arakanese ethnic affairs minister post in the 2020 general election, according to an official from the Yangon Region election subcommission. 

Two out of three Department of Public Health employees detained at a military checkpoint on August 9 were released the following day after undergoing questioning, while their colleague is being held at the Myoma police station in Ann Township, Arakan State, according to locals.

Officials from Arakan State-based ethnic political parties say they will contest the 2020 election with the aim of preventing the dissolution of their parties, mindful of a requirement that they field candidates in at least three races to remain viable under election law.