Local administrators, lawmakers, and civil society organizations are working together to build 500 living quarters for the IDPs on five acres of township land before annual torrential rains begin in late May, said Khin Saw Wai, a lawmaker from Rathedaung township
Among the 105 organisations seeking the restoration of Internet access in Rakhine and Chin are the Shan State Peace Organisation, Peace Committee of Rakhine State Civilian Organisation, Rakhine Women’s Network, Rakhine Women’s Union and the Rakhine State Peace and Stability Support Team. “In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, prohibiting people from access to information is a human rights violation
The government had imposed a temporary suspension of internet service on these townships and four others in Rakhine state in June 2019, but lifted it for the five in September during peace discussions between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups
On Jan. 6, the IRC ended its Tat Lan program that provided sustainable food security and improved nutrition and livelihoods to villages in Rakhine’s Myebon, Pauktaw, Kyaukphyu, and Minbya townships
The lawsuits include 18 cases filed under the Telecommunications Law, 11 under Section 505(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code, seven under Section 505(b), four under Section 500, two under the Unlawful Associations Act, two under the National Security Act, two under the Media Law, and one under Section 200
Civil society organizations helping the IDPs said they cannot provide supplies to the camps they wish to serve because of the permission requirement and because of authorities who prevent them from traveling by land and water in the region
Six members of a traditional satirical group received a second prison sentence Monday from a Yangon-based court for mocking Myanmar’s military in a performance earlier this year during the country’s annual New Year’s celebration, the defendants and their lawyer said
More than 500 residents of Thayattapin village of Kyauktaw township meanwhile also fled their homes after Myanmar soldiers and police showed up in their community to question civilians, said a villager who requested anonymity for security reasons
The AA detained 18 firefighter recruits and the deputy station chief of the state Fire Services Department as they travelled on a bus from central Myanmar’s Mandalay region to Rakhine’s capital Sittwe after completing basic firefighting training in the town of Pyin Oo Lwin
Ethnic Rakhines comprise the majority of soldiers who serve in the Myanmar Army in Rakhine state, where the AA has been engaged in heightened armed conflict this year with government forces in a quest for greater autonomy in the region