Civilian deaths, life-changing injuries rise alongside intensifying conflict in Arakan State

By DMG 22 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
22 November 2022, Sittwe

A resurgence in fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army (AA) is bringing attendant rises in the numbers of civilian deaths and amputations due to heavy weapons fire and landmine encounters.

About 70 percent of people injured in recent months of conflict have lost limbs or otherwise become disabled, according to data from social organisations.

Daw Aye Mya, a resident of Nget Pyaw Chaung Village in Kyauktaw Township, lost her left leg after stepping on a landmine in June.

“Now that I’m disabled, I’m depressed about everything. I don’t want to do what I used to want to do and I don’t want to go anywhere,” she said.

Daw Aye Mya, a widow, has a daughter who is attending university. Because Daw Aye Mya lost her limb, her daughter has to work in Yangon in order to support the family and continue her education.

U Ba Shwe, a 41-year-old man from Kunohnchaung Village in Kyauktaw Township, lost his left leg and his eyes were damaged after he stepped on a landmine while on his way to forage for fruit in the mountains near the village to support his family.

U Ba Shwe said that since it is not easy for him to work any more, he is having trouble supporting his family, and his daughter, who is in the seventh grade, has been out of school.

“My wife also has an infant child. I can’t work anymore, so I am struggling to make ends meet. I can no longer send my daughter to school,” he told DMG.

U Ba Shwe has five family members and they are currently taking refuge in Ganantaung Village, Ponnagyun Township, as internally displaced people (IDPs).

U Ba Shwe said his eyes were hit by landmine shrapnel and have not healed yet. He has had to visit Sittwe Hospital once a month for examinations, but cannot go regularly due to financial difficulties.

Social organisations point out that the military council’s support remains weak for those who have lost limbs or otherwise become disabled due to the ongoing conflict.

“If the fighting continues, the number of disabled people in Arakan State will only increase,” said Ma Htwe May, in-charge for the Shwe Min Tha Foundation. “The government should open vocational training courses to help people with disabilities live a long-term life.”

Three civilians were killed and 23 others were injured in shooting incidents and landmine explosions in Arakan State and neighbouring Chin State’s Paletwa Township in September, according to a DMG tally. Eleven people were killed and 31 others were injured in similar incidents in Arakan State and Paletwa Township in October.

More recently, at least 70 civilians were killed or injured by artillery strikes, gunfire and a landmine encounter blamed on Myanmar’s military regime over a one-week period from November 10-16 in Arakan State. Several women and school-aged children have been among the casualties.