Over 130,000 people displaced by fighting in Arakan State: aid group

By Admin 14 Dec 2023

DMG Newsroom
14 December 2023, Sittwe

More than 130,000 people have been displaced in Pauktaw, Minbya, Myebon, Mrauk-U, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Pauktaw townships since renewed fighting broke out in the second week of November, according to ARE, a not-for-profit organisation helping internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State.

Apart from fighting, it has been the junta’s indiscriminate artillery strikes, air strikes, arson attacks and arbitrary arrests that have contributed to the mass displacement.

“Junta troops came into our village, firing shots. They torched houses. We didn’t feel safe any longer. So, we fled to safe places,” said a resident of Ye Yoe Pyin Village in Ponnagyun Township.

Junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA) clashed near the village of Sanyin Wa in Myebon Township on Wednesday. Junta troops pounded nearby villages following the fighting, forcing thousands of villagers to flee their homes.

“They came to our village, and threatened that they would bombard the village if we failed to report about the AA. They also fired shells near the village. So, we dared not stay and we fled,” aid a resident of Lethon Village in Myebon Township.

Villagers from at least five villages in Mrauk-U Township also fled out of fear for their safety on Tuesday after Light Infantry Battalion Nos. 540 and 377 fired artillery throughout the day.

A woman who fled Shaoponekyun Village said: “Junta troops fired artillery shells the whole day from Mrauk-U. Some shells landed near our village. We didn’t feel safe, and all the villagers fled.”

As the ranks of those displaced grow, the need for shelter, medicine and food continues to rise.

The regime has, however, imposed travel restrictions, and also restricts humanitarian operations by local charities, and local and international nongovernmental organisations.

“We were displaced by the previous fighting, and we again have had to flee the fresh fighting. We feel like we have nowhere to flee. We are currently staying at a farm near a hill. It is the cold season now, but we have no shelter, and we have run out of rice,” said Daw Khin Mya Yi, who fled Rathedaung town.

The conflict zone has continued to expand in Arakan State since the renewed fighting broke out on November 13.