Arakan National Party donates rice to IDPs in Buthidaung Twsp

By DMG 20 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
20 October 2022, Buthidaung

The Arakan National Party (ANP) has reportedly donated 30 bags of rice to scores of households displaced by fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) in Buthidaung Township.

ANP members donated the rice on October 19 to internally displaced people (IDPs) from Kinchaung and Thabeiktaung villages who are currently staying at their relatives’ homes in downtown Buthidaung, said U Ko Chay, head of the party’s disaster relief committee.

“Rice sacks are allocated by the ANP headquarters to help those in need. They [IDPs] are currently staying at their relatives’ homes in downtown Buthidaung. We donated rice to 90 IDP households,” he told DMG.

The ANP formed its disaster relief committee in September with the aim of providing assistance to those displaced by the fighting in Arakan State.

“The disaster relief committee was formed not too long ago, and our support is the first step. We aim to collect a list of displaced people and help them if necessary. Since the ANP formed this committee, it has been intended to help the IDPs as much as possible,” he added.

At least 362 displaced people from Kinchaung and Thabeiktaung villages who are sheltering across multiple wards in Buthidaung town are reportedly struggling to make ends meet.

“The ANP provided rice and cooking oil to IDPs yesterday,” said U Aung Soe, an IDP from Kinchaung Village. “We could bring nothing when we left home. We are currently staying at our relative’s home as we cannot take refuge at displacement camps. We face livelihood hardships due to lack of donors and dare not return home for fear of heavy weapons.”

Residents of Kinchaung and Thabeiktaung villages have been fleeing to safer locations since September 25 due to a military presence in and around the villages, and recent artillery shellings that have hit residential areas.

Local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) are currently unable to provide necessary assistance to many IDPs as the military banned NGOs from travelling to Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon and Rathedaung townships on September 15.

“Fighting between the AA-MAF [Arakan Army and Myanmar military] has continued across Rakhine [Arakan] State and Paletwa Township in Chin State,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said early this month. “Since August, more than 17,400 people have been newly displaced, bringing the total number of IDPs from past and present AA-MAF fighting in these areas to more than 91,000, according to UN latest figures.”