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#### Arakan Army Seeks to Build ‘Inclusive’ Administration in Rakhine State

A medical team from the Arakan Army poses with Rohingya villagers after spraying chemical disinfectant during a COVID-19 outbreak in Rakhine State’s Buthidaung township on September 14, 2020. (Photo supplied)

Seven months since the military coup in Myanmar, the political wing of the rebel Arakan Army (AA) has significantly expanded its administrative and judicial mechanisms across Rakhine State in western Myanmar, with hundreds of its personnel now effectively administering the region independently of the military junta that rules in Naypyidaw. The group is also attempting to involve the state’s entire population, including the Rohingya Muslims, in the governance of what it hopes will become an autonomous Rakhine State.Read more

#### Related Articles

Arakan Army extends administrative grip on Rakhine State

by Kyaw Hsan Hlaing

The Arakan Army and its political wing, the United League of Arakan, have unveiled a political dispute mechanism and plans for a judiciary in Rakhine State as part of their moves to “bring justice to all people living in Rakhine.” Read more

In Myanmar’s Rakhine State, trust in armed group grows as election hopes fade

by Kyaw Hsan Hlaing and Emily Fishbein

Many Arakanese in Myanmar’s Rakhine State were optimistic in the lead-up to the country's first openly contested elections in a quarter of a century, in 2015. There’s a stark difference five years on, as 8 November polls are clouded by an escalating civil war and voting cancellations across most of the state. Read more

## News

Previous Articles

Illustration by Thura Kyaw

### “Like Ants Fighting Elephants”: Student Activists in Myanmar Speak Out

###### November, 30, 2020

Despite dozens of arrests this year, a small group of student activists are determined to raise their voices on behalf of civilians in Rakhine State who have been affected by armed conflict, and largely silenced by internet and media restrictions. Read more

Illustration by Thura Kyaw

### In Myanmar’s Rakhine State, trust in armed group grows as election hopes fade

###### October, 18, 2020

Many Arakanese in Myanmar’s Rakhine State were optimistic in the lead-up to the country's first openly contested elections in a quarter of a century, in 2015. There’s a stark difference five years on, as 8 November polls are clouded by an escalating civil war and voting cancellations across most of the state. Read more

In response to COVID-19 third-wave, a group of medical officers from the Arakan Army did healthcare at Arkataung village’s school in Rathedaung township on 19 May 2021. (Supplied)

### Arakan Army extends administrative grip on Rakhine State

###### August, 6, 2021

The United League of Arakan is advancing steadily towards its objective of assuming administrative control in Rakhine State, and has seen a high level of compliance from the state’s residents with the stay-at-home order it issued on July 20 in response to the third wave of COVID-19. Since the coup, the ULA and its armed wing, the Arakan Army, have accelerated their effort to expand their ability to govern the state and be seen as its legitimate governing body.Read more

- Internally displaced persons (IDPs) cook at a camp in Rakhine State last week. With social distancing nearly impossible, IDPs are at risk of contracting the coronavirus [Supplied/Al Jazeera]

### “Rakhine: Where the military is more feared than the coronavirus"

###### Date

Yangon, Myanmar – On the night of September 3, Thar Hla* was restless, and it was not just because he was sharing a concrete floor with approximately 70 people. “After hearing loud firing, I felt like the quarantine centre wasn’t safe,” the 32-year-old told Al Jazeera by phone from his hometown in Kyauktaw in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State. “That night, no one could sleep.”Read more

Previous News

###### Arakan Army Seeks to Build ‘Inclusive’ Administration in Rakhine State

Seven months since the military coup in Myanmar, the political wing of the rebel Arakan Army (AA) has significantly expanded its administrative and judicial mechanisms across Rakhine State in western Myanmar, with hundreds of its personnel now effectively administering the region independently of the military junta that rules in Naypyidaw. The group is also attempting to involve the state’s entire population, including the Rohingya Muslims, in the governance of what it hopes will become an autonomous Rakhine State. Read more

###### Arakan Army extends administrative grip on Rakhine State

The United League of Arakan is advancing steadily towards its objective of assuming administrative control in Rakhine State, and has seen a high level of compliance from the state’s residents with the stay-at-home order it issued on July 20 in response to the third wave of COVID-19. Since the coup, the ULA and its armed wing, the Arakan Army, have accelerated their effort to expand their ability to govern the state and be seen as its legitimate governing body. Read more

###### The Military Coup Destroyed Independent Media in Myanmar, but in Rakhine State, It Wasn’t There to Begin With

Since the February 1 military coup, independent media has faced a crisis in Myanmar. Yet, even before the coup, journalists and rights advocates had decried a diminishing space for independent media, especially media reporting on armed conflict and humanitarian crises in Rakhine State. Read more

###### In Myanmar’s Rakhine, families of the disappeared seek answers

One evening, as Ma Nway* and her family were having dinner, soldiers from Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, came to her house and asked for her husband. According to her account, they blindfolded him, took out their guns and beat him in front of her. Read more

###### “Like Ants Fighting Elephants”: Student Activists in Myanmar Speak Out

Toe Toe Aung knew he would be arrested when he stood in front of Myanmar’s Rakhine State government office on 9 September with two fellow university students. They held signs reading “No Murder Army” and “No Bloody Government”, and one waved the red flag of the Arakan Student Union. Read more

###### "Our voice has been killed’ - Rakhine’s smaller ethnic groups shut out of political process by vote cancellations

The Union Election Commission’s decision to cancel voting in numerous areas, mostly in Rakhine state, is likely to further consolidate power in the hands of Myanmar’s Bamar majority and will decrease political representation for ethnic minorities in areas affected by conflict. Read more

###### In Myanmar’s Rakhine State, trust in armed group grows as election hopes fade

Many Arakanese in Myanmar’s Rakhine State were optimistic in the lead-up to the country's first openly contested elections in a quarter of a century, in 2015. There’s a stark difference five years on, as 8 November polls are clouded by an escalating civil war and voting cancellations across most of the state Read more

###### Vote cancellations trigger outrage among Myanmar minority voters

More than 1.5 million people in Myanmar’s conflict-ridden areas have been politically disenfranchised after the country’s election commission scrapped voting in those areas in next month’s general election, deepening concerns about the credibility of the country’s first poll since Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in 2015. Read more

###### Rakhine: Where the military is more feared than the coronavirus

Yangon, Myanmar – On the night of September 3, Thar Hla* was restless, and it was not just because he was sharing a concrete floor with approximately 70 people. “After hearing loud firing, I felt like the quarantine centre wasn’t safe,” the 32-year-old told Al Jazeera by phone from his hometown in Kyauktaw in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State. “That night, no one could sleep.” Read more

###### For Those Displaced in Myanmar's Rakhine State, COVID Adds Another Layer of Fear

Before a COVID-19 outbreak hit Myanmar’s Rakhine State in mid-August, Thiri Kyaw, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, already had a lot to worry about. Read more

###### To Fight the Coronavirus, Myanmar Needs a Cease-Fire in Rakhine

YANGON, Myanmar—On Aug. 16, Myanmar’s health ministry announced the country’s first locally transmitted COVID-19 case in a month in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state. By Sept. 1, the number of confirmed cases across the state had risen to 393, while as of Sept. 3, the whole country has recorded 1,111 cases since the coronavirus pandemic began. Read more

###### People in Parts of Myanmar Are Living Under the World's Longest Internet Shutdown. It's Putting Lives in Danger

I first accessed the internet in 2014. I was 18 years old and living in my family’s home in Myanmar’s westernmost Rakhine State. After a half-century of isolation during the military junta, my country was finally opening up. Read more