The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) ethnic armed group has offered to assist the Arakan State government in securing its citizens as the western state continues to grapple with unrest.

A damning new released by Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK adds to mounting pressure on the government to cooperate with the upcoming United Nations fact-finding mission.

Many farmers in Arakan State suffer from the lack of labour, low mechanisation and poor market access for farm produce.

Human rights advocates both at home and abroad this week issued calls for the creation of an independent, international commission of inquiry into allegations of serious human rights abuses committed by Burmese security forces in northern Arakan State.

The United Nations human rights envoy in Burma has wrapped up her tour of Arakan State, during which she was reportedly denied the opportunity to speak directly to locals living in a village where police filmed themselves beating detained Muslim men in November.

Fishing, a major industry in impoverished Arakan State, has been in a long decline, pushing many coastal communities into debt.