Dr. Naing Swe Oo, executive director at the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank formed by ex-military officers, says there is little chance of fresh clashes erupting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State, responding to local media reports about increased troop presence in the state. Dr. Naing Swe Oo recently discussed increased Tatmadaw troop deployments in Arakan State with DMG.

Known as Kalar Chaung or Myolel Creek, a small stream contaminated by bitumen and plagued by silting passes through several downtown Sittwe wards, causing headaches for residents of the Arakan State capital. 

The previous government declared the Arakan Army (AA) to be a terrorist group and unlawful association on March 23, 2020. But with the military-run State Administration Council (SAC) announcing a rescission of the AA’s terrorist designation on Thursday, DMG interviewed a variety of local stakeholders to get a sense of what this development might mean for Arakan State and its people. 

As you know, I was arrested over a talk on the topic of the fall of the Arakan Kingdom. Those who arrested me and the author [Wai Hun Aung] at the time were irrational to have arrested us over a talk. They failed to notice that the event was allowed for years under the U Thein Sein government. So, those who imprisoned me will not be happy if I say that I thank Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing for releasing me.

Thank you to all the people. The people had to suffer mentally and physically for us. The people also suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, which was unprecedented in the world. [Due to conflict,] local people have been forced to flee their homes; some people were arrested and imprisoned. Some people became amputees due to landmines. I don’t want to say that these troubles are over, but I want to say that we are moving in a positive direction. We will lead Arakan State with all our strength and intelligence. I would like to say that we will stand firm with the Arakanese people.

Given the latest developments, DMG reporters Hnin Nwe and Nyan Hein talked to politicians, civil society leaders and other stakeholders about prospects for peace in Arakan State, including whether and when the state’s people displaced by conflict might return home.

Earlier this month, the Chinese company China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group submitted a project proposal and signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct feasibility studies for construction of a railway linking Kyaukphyu in Arakan State with Mandalay in central Myanmar, part of a larger rail network connecting with China’s Yunnan province.

"If we return to our communities from the IDP camps and stay in the villages for a day or two, we will all be in trouble."

U Tun Aung Kyaw, a member of the ANP’s policy leadership committee, recently sat down with DMG senior reporter Min Tun and talked about the ANP’s prospects for participating in the state government.

DMG’s senior reporter Thiha recently reached out to civil society organisations and a lawmaker representing Kyaukphyu to glean their views on the SEZ. 

Three members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and three Tatmadaw soldiers who were abducted and had been detained by the Arakan Army were released on January 1. The Tatmadaw True News Information Team on Friday said the NLD trio were freed following discussions between the military and the Arakan Army. 

In the wake of weeks without clashes in Arakan State, DMG reporter Aung Htein interviewed Daw Saw Mra Razar Lin, Central Committee member and spokesperson for the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signatory Arakan Liberation Party (ALP). 

There are a lot of factors to building a federal Union. How to share power? How to share resources? There are many such factors to be discussed. If there is any dissatisfaction in this power- and resource-sharing, which groups will resolve it? If we can reach an agreement between NLD and ethnic politics, we must keep in mind that we can agree. This is a consensus.

We currently know only what the NLD’s officials have told journalists, since we were not officially offered discussions yet. So, we are reviewing the situation based on information we received from the media. 

Amid a two-year war that has resulted in hundreds of civilian casualties and hundreds more arrested unjustly on suspicion of illegal involvement in the conflict, International Human Rights Day on December 10 carried particular resonance in Arakan State this year. This year, at the end of which some townships in Arakan State will have endured almost 18 months with severely throttled internet access, or none at all.   

In the general election’s wake, DMG interviewed U Naing Soe to discuss this year’s winless independent field, as well as Arakan State’s past, present and future politics. 

With the shifting peace process dynamics and a reconfigured government set to take office next year, DMG’s Aung Htein sought the opinions of a variety of stakeholders to find out whether they thought the government might withdraw its declaration of the Arakan Army as a terrorist group.

As Election Day draws near, ethnic political parties are taking stock of their prospects in southern Arakan State, where parties from the Bamar-dominated mainland have historically seen greater success at the polls. DMG’s Khin Tharaphy Oo — who has reported on public opinion, the challenges facing campaigns in the COVID-19 era, and political parties’ hopes for the upcoming vote — recently caught up with the leadership of three prominent Arakanese political parties and the state’s ethnic Kaman party, to get their thoughts on an election season like no other.

DMG compiled the opinions of some of the candidates who had prepared to compete for seats in Pauktaw Township, only to be told of the nixed polls earlier this month.