This is a result of the military council's calculated infliction of suffering in order to sway public opinion against the Arakan Army (AA)

Narinjara News,  July 16, 2025 

Sittwe has seen an increase in theft, robbery, and prostitution as a result of the continuing conflict in Rakhine State and the military council's draconian measures to restrict access to food and livelihoods, which are intended to turn the local population against the Arakan Army (AA).

A local social activist from Sittwe claims that this has resulted in dire circumstances where whole families commit suicide.

"Only a tiny minority in Sittwe can afford to live peacefully and drive beautiful cars or motorcycles. Those who are connected to the military council are in an even better position. The average person is already poor. Both low-income households in Sittwe and those that have been uprooted from the countryside to the city are going through hard times. At this time, men turn to theft, and young girls are coerced into sex work. They act in this manner because they are desperate. When poverty hits, some individuals are honest people, but they are forced to struggle to survive by any means,” he said.

The Rakhine State Military Council, which rules Sittwe, is mostly to blame for this widespread suffering among the lower classes. As part of a scheme to cause problems for the residents of Sittwe, he claimed that the state council themselves are orchestrating these hardships.

"The state government is intentionally fostering hatred and blame towards the AA, who are the primary combatants in Rakhine. In Sittwe, they are limiting access to food and means of subsistence in order to foster animosity and opposition to the AA's operations. Their objective is to crush the will of the Rakhine people. The Rakhine people are caught in the middle of the conflict. Currently, a large number of individuals in Sittwe  at the basic level are experiencing tremendous hardship, he continued.

A family of five in Sittwe's Mingan ward 11 committed suicide on June 29 after being overwhelmed by poverty and hardship.

According to eyewitnesses, the parents poisoned their three children with food prior to committing suicide. Mizzima and DMG also covered this tragic news.

Among the displaced and impoverished families from rural areas now residing in Sittwe, many women, ranging in age from minors to young adults, are compelled to engage in survival sex work simply to have one meal a day, a woman from a town in the Mrauk-U township who is now living in Sittwe stated. 

"Before, we worked in a variety of fields, including manual labor, trash collecting, market sales, and nighttime fishing. We might make enough money to get by on a daily basis. We have no place to go or employment right now. We cannot live if we don't steal or beg for food. I'm embarrassed, but both my daughter and I must do this in order to live. My husband is gone,” she shared.

Upon hearing about the current state of affairs in Sittwe, a Rakhine youth who resides abroad and maintains contact with Sittwe voiced significant worries as well.

"I've heard that some families in Sittwe are so in need of food that they are exchanging young girls for a sack of rice or 100,000 kyats." He told Narinjara, "These are heart-breaking reports."

At the moment, the majority of people who are doing well in Sittwe are affluent circles, members of the ALP armed group and their families, Muslims who support the military council, military council affiliates, and friends with ties to the military. He said that the worst off are those who work manually and those who have been forced to move from rural areas to urban areas as war refugees.

Rising prices and unemployment have brought many refugees and impoverished residents to the brink of destitution in Sittwe, the site of the military council's headquarters.

They should be allowed to leave the city and return to their villages or at least be allowed to go outside to farm and fish, according to a female war refugee from Sittwe township.

"We've been stuck in the city for more than a year at this point. Originally, we were from villages outside Sittwe, where we had homes and jobs. However, we have been compelled into homelessness by the military council's strict confinement. There are no employment opportunities in the city. We rely on charity or begging for a livelihood. We're famished. We are no longer supported by the government. For this reason, we want to return to our homes or at least be allowed to go outside the city to find vegetables and fish," she said.

The Rakhine State Military Council has severely restricted the citizens of Sittwe from leaving the city or venturing out to fish in the ocean. In addition, around twenty villages around the city have been subjected to the forced relocation of their people to monasteries in Sittwe. Additionally, they are prohibited from continuing their traditional agricultural livelihoods.

Due to the numerous limitations established by the military council, there are very few employment possibilities in Sittwe, and prices have skyrocketed. This has led to extreme hardship, particularly for the working class.