Over 1,500 villagers displaced after fighting in Rathedaung Twsp

By DMG 19 Aug 2022

DMG Newsroom
19 August 2022, Sittwe 

More than 1,500 residents of six villages in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township have fled to safer locations after the Myanmar military clashed with the Arakan Army (AA) recently. 

The internally displaced people (IDPs) from the villages of Aungthukha, Cheinkhali, Koetankauk, Kyantaingaung, Donpaik and Hsinpaik left their homes as they are worried about the military’s travel restrictions and the possibility of fresh fighting, according to locals. 

“Locals from Cheinkhali, Koetankauk, Kyantaingaung, Donpaik and Hsinpaik villages have fled to some villages near the Mayu River. But some people remained in the villages to feed their cattle. Residents of Inndin and Kyaukpandu villages are unable to flee due to travel barriers,” said Ko Aung Soe Min, a humanitarian aid worker. 

Some local residents also said they fled for fear of impending food shortages due to transportation difficulties in the aftermath of the fighting, which took place on August 13. Many of the IDPs are reportedly taking shelter in Thayetchaung, Aungseik, Minphue, Norway and Thanchaung villages. 

“It is not easy for the villagers to feed the displaced people in the long run. It will be more convenient only if the displaced people are provided with food items by international organisations or local charities,” Ko Aung Soe Min told DMG. 

Local people in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, meanwhile, are concerned about possible food shortages as the Myanmar military has blocked off the main road linking the township with state capital Sittwe following fighting with the Arakan Army on August 14, said Maungdaw Township’s Arakan National Party (ANP) office. 

The blocking of the road is ostensibly for security reasons, but the Maungdaw Township ANP has submitted a communique to the deputy commissioner on August 19 seeking to have the blockade lifted or to use an inspection and approval system for vehicles instead. 

The ANP also wrote in its statement that the ban on food transportation would greatly affect the livelihoods of local people, and that they could face starvation in the future. This in turn could prompt more displacement of people due to food insecurity, the ANP warned.  

Residents of Kyaukpandu village in Maungdaw Township are also facing difficulties as junta soldiers and police have reportedly banned them from leaving the village. 

“There is no security guarantee for us. Even a pregnant mother who is about to give birth is not allowed to leave the village,” said a Kyaukpandu village resident. “The military imposes a nighttime curfew in the village and does not allow the residents to leave the village in the daytime. The villagers are facing various hardships.”