The ALP and the Arakan government signed the five point agreement in April last year in a meeting held in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State in western Burma.

The agreement clearly pointed out  ‘to stop fighting each other, to open liaison offices in Kyauktaw and Paletwa for mutual communications, not to cross each others’ areas holding weapons without prior information or negotiation, to allow the members of ALP to travel across the country, and to continue negotiations for building peace initiative and development activities in Arakan’.

Khine Thukha, general secretary of ALP, informed that following the agreement the ALP has succeeded in opening a liaison office in Kyauktaw but the other office proposed in Paletwa of Chin State is yet to be materialized.

In fact, many Chin political parties including Chin National Front have opposed the ALP’s plan to open the liaison office in Paletwa. During the British rule, Paletwa was under the territory of Arakan State, but  later the city was reportedly put inside Chin State by the U Nu government in 1953.

“The Chin parties oppose our plan citing the reason that  Paletwa is not inside Arakan state. So they have expressed their resentments against the plan,” added Khine Thukha.

Presently the ALP members without carrying arms can move freely across Burma. But the State government has not permitted the ALP members to fully engage in various development activities of Arakan, though the agreement has mentioned about it.

The restriction has thus prevented the ALP to work for the benefit of common people and finally it has emerged as a major challenge for them to achieve their goal.