Post-coup displaced population rises to 680,000 in Arakan State: report

By Admin 09 Nov 2024

DMG Newsroom
9 November 2024, Mrauk-U

As many as 680,000 people have been displaced in Arakan State by fighting from the February 2021 coup through the end of October, according to a recent report by the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar).

Ninety-eight percent of them were displaced since the latest fighting broke out on November 13 of last year, according to the report.

Displaced people are seriously short of food, medicines and clothes as the regime has cut off Arakan State and imposed restrictions on humanitarian operations.

“I don’t even have a 50-kyat banknote in my possession. My blood pressure has always been low. I can’t even afford a sachet of oral rehydration salt,” said a displaced woman from Ponnagyun Township.

Up to 2 million people in Arakan State are at risk of starvation in 2025, according to a report issued by the United Nations Development Programme on Thursday.

Restrictions on domestic and international flows of goods, hyperinflation, loss of livelihoods, dwindling agricultural production and lack of essential services are all contributing factors, said the report.

Social activist and writer Wai Hin Aung said: “I have noticed while visiting displacement camps that many people are getting sick as a result of malnutrition and shortages of medicines. As there are not enough healthcare services, and educational opportunities are lost, people are suffering from psychological trauma.”

The regime has blockaded Arakan State since the latest fighting broke out in November 2023. Shortages of goods and soaring food prices have been taking a heavy toll on residents in Arakan State.

Operations of humanitarian organisations have been disrupted by the junta’s travel restrictions, a communications shutdown, declines in the number of donors and difficulties with withdrawing cash from mobile wallets.

Chairman Ko Pyae Phyo Naing of the Ponnagyun Youths Organization said: “We have not been able to help displaced people lately as we receive few donations. It is also difficult to reach out to donors due to the internet shutdown.”

More than 6.6 million people have been displaced nationwide by the escalating fighting, and the number has been highest in Shan, Kachin and Arakan states, with the majority being displaced after Operation 1027 was launched in October of last year, according to the ISP-Myanmar report.