Cyclone-affected Muslim IDPs yet to receive relief supplies

By Admin 05 Jun 2023

DMG Newsroom
5 June 2023, Sittwe

Thousands of Muslim internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Sittwe and Pauktaw townships are facing livelihood hardships as they have yet to receive relief items in the wake of the destruction wrought by Cyclone Mocha, displacement camp officials said.

“No relief supplies have reached Muslim IDP camps, but the World Food Programme (WFP) provides us with rice. We are facing livelihood hardships and accommodation difficulties,” said U Abdul Naw Bi, manager of the Bawdupha No. 1 displacement camp in Sittwe Township.

Metal roofing sheets are urgently needed to repair shelters at the Thechaung Muslim IDP camp in Sittwe Township, which was hard-hit by the storm, said U Maung Maung Sein, in-charge of the displacement camp. The Thechaung displacement camp is home to about 13,000 Muslim IDPs.

“Almost all shelters in the displacement camp were destroyed by the cyclonic storm and we urgently need roofing sheets to repair the damaged shelters,” he explained.

All shelters at the Ngat Chaung IDP camp No. 2 in Pauktaw Township, which accommodates more than 5,000 IDPs from 1,000 households, were also reportedly destroyed by Cyclone Mocha. The affected IDPs are in need of assistance to rebuild their shelters, said Ko Aye Kyaw, an IDP.

“The junta compiled a list of damaged homes and cattle killed by the cyclonic storm, but didn’t supply us with relief items. We rely on rice provided by the WFP. As the monsoon season is approaching, we need to repair our homes in an urgent manner,” he added.

Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall with destructive force in Arakan State on May 14, killed more than 100 people in Muslim villages and at Muslim displacement camps in Sittwe Township.

A total of 216,681 houses were damaged or destroyed by Cyclone Mocha in rural parts of Arakan State’s Sittwe, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Minbya, Myebon, Rathedaung, Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, and more than 1.2 million people were affected, according to the Arakan Army (AA).