20 April 2020
On 19 February 2020 we have already issued an announcement so that there would have been no hindrances regarding the transportation of urgent food supplies, medicine, and basic necessities for the civilian population including the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the civil war. The statement made it clear that we would like to assist as much as possible in facilitating the transport of food for the civilians and the IDPs in Paletwa area.
As expressed in the statement, we lived up to our commitments not only on humanitarian grounds but also in the spirit of brotherhood. Continuously, please be informed again that we stand pledge-bound to facilitate the unhindered and smooth flow of food, medicine and other necessities meant for the civilian population and the internally displaced persons in Rakhine and Paletwa areas if national and international organizations, including NGOs and the UN Humanitarian Organization come to provide humanitarian aid in this region.
However, some organizations sponsored by former soldiers from the Myanmar Army, some retired government servants, some retired military personnel and some of their civilian puppets have brought baseless accusations against the Arakan Army and made false statements on the social media platforms under their control, which are becoming more visible these days. Such baseless accusations of them against the Arakan Army are the same tasks working in tandem with the Myanmar Army’s propaganda machine, and they are actively trying to impose the blames of the Myanmar Army on our organization.
Media outlets are hereby informed and requested not to trust the false statements of such fraudsters and not to write news referencing to their unreliable sources because the publication of disinformation and false statements without thoroughly doing fact-checks can be detrimental to our organization’s reputation. All local and international media personnel and journalists are cordially invited to make visits in the areas to see for themselves the ground reality and not to be misguided by the lies of the Myanmar Army’s propaganda machine.
United League of Arakan/Arakan Army
PS: This is a translation from the Burmese into English. Therefore, please consult with the Burmese language version in case there is any contradictory or vague terms.
