The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported Oct. 10 that over 570,000 people are believes displaced in Burma's Rakhine state due to ongoing conflict between the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) and the rebel Arakan Army, adding to the over 3 million people displaced across the country.

Worsening the humanitarian situation, Burma (Myanmar) has been hit by severe flooding since early September. Torrential monsoon rains and the remnants of Typhoon Yagi have affected an estimated 1 million people across 70 of the country's 330 townships, causing significant damage to crops, farmland and livestock. According to UNOCHA, this has further exacerbated the vulnerabilities of conflict-affected communities. Humanitarian responses in Rakhine face significant challenges, including blocked supply routes, communication blackouts, and restricted access to areas outside state capital Sittwe (formerly Akyab).

At least 94 people have been arbitrarily arrested in Cambodia since late July for expressing public criticism of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement Aug. 28. The human rights organizations believe at least 59 of those arrested have been unlawfully detained by Cambodian authorities, and called for all charges in these cases to be immediately dropped.

Manila has accused Chinese military vessels of engaging in "dangerous manoeuvres, including ramming and towing" a Philippine ship in an effort to disrupt a "routine" resupply mission to an outpost on Second Thomas Shoal (known to the Philippines as Ayungin Shoal) in the the disputed Spratly Islands (known to the Philippines as the Kalayaan Islands) June 17. By Philippine media accounts, the craft was fired upon with water cannon and boarded by Chinese troops, with several Filipino soldiers injured in the ensuing confrontation. (SCMP, Nikkei Asia, Inquirer, GMA)

Burmese junta soldiers reportedly killed at least 75 civilians in an attack last week on a village in Rakhine state, where the regime is facing a fierce insurgency by the rebel Arakan Army (AA). The AA said in a statement June 2 that it has a list of 53 victims, including two teenagers and five women. Over 100 soldiers entered Byian Phyu, near state capital Sittwe (formerly Akyab), at noon on May 29, forcing residents into a communal area in the center of the village, where scores of were summarily gunned down, survivors said. (Irrawady)

Twenty-eight non-governmental organizations representing Burma's Rohingya Muslim minority issued a joint statement May 22 warning of the risk of a new "genocide" and urging the international community to take action. The NGOs, including the Free Rohingya Coalition and Burmese Rohingya Organization UK (BROUK), said that this time the threat comes from the Arakan Army, a predominantly Buddhist ethnic armed group that is waging an insurgency against the ruling junta. According to the statement, the Arakan Army has ordered Rohingya residents to evacuate the town of Buthidaung, Rakhine state, where many internally displaced during the 2017 genocide carried out by the Burmese armed forces have taken refuge. The evacuation order is being backed up by a campaign of threats, violence, and arson. (Anadolu Agency, TNH)

The Karen National Union (KNU) said April 12 that it will establish its own administrative mechanism in territory recently captured from Burma's military in and around the critical trade hub of Myawaddy, on the border with Thailand. The KNU has several departments in its governance structure, including those for health, education, foreign affairs and defense, in territories it controls in seven districts across southeastern Burma, including in Karen (Kayin) and Mon states and Bago and Tanintharyi regions. The junta has lost control of several towns on the border with China to other rebel armies in recent months, but the loss of Myawaddy is a special blow, as it is the transfer point for most of Burma's overland trade with Thailand. (Myanmar Now)

Vietnam announced on March 7 that it has listed two pro-separatist Montagnard groups based in the US as "terrorist organizations." The term Montagnard refers to various highland ethnic minorities, also collectively known as the Dega, that are distinct from the country's majority Viet population. Under the "terrorist" designation, anyone found by Vietnamese authorities to have engaged with or aided the organizations may face criminal charges.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists on Feb. 16 called for the Burmese military government to investigate the killing of journalist Myat Thu Tan and prosecute the perpetrators. The journalist's remains were reportedly found buried in a bomb shelter at a military camp in the ttown of Mrauk-U in Rakhine state. The body, bearing signs of torture, was discovered along with those of six other political detainees after the camp was overrun Feb. 5 by the insurgent Arakan Army. It was determined that he had been shot and killed on Jan. 31.