Arakan State IDPs in need of warm clothes and blankets

By Admin 21 Oct 2025

DMG Newsroom

21 October 2025, Ponnagyun
 
Internally displaced people (IDPs) and aid workers say IDPs in Arakan State are in dire need of warm clothes and blankets to protect themselves from the cold weather of the coming winter.
 
Most of the displaced people from townships such as Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Rathedaung, Thandwe, and Gwa are living in temporary camps, near forests, and in fields, so they are hoping to receive warm clothes, blankets, and mosquito nets for the upcoming colder months.
 
“A thin blanket costs more than K30,000. I can’t buy one blanket to cover my whole family. Even if I work all day, my income won’t be enough to cover a blanket. I have to sleep in the open air, so I suffer from joint and bone pain every winter,” said a 40-year-old displaced woman in Kyauktaw Township.
 
IDPs at the Kangyishin displacement camp in Kyauktaw Township live and sleep on cardboard and tarpaulin sheets on the ground. IDPs say that every winter, displaced elderly and children often fall ill due to the cold, and they are worried about contracting typhoid fever and cholera.
 
In Arakan State, the prices of warm clothes and blankets have increased significantly, with a single blanket priced from as low as K30,000 to as high as K100,000, according to shop owners.
 
A 30-year-old displaced woman in Ponnagyun Township said, “It is very cold because we live in the fields and when the winter wind blows, we shiver. We have to sleep on tarpaulin sheets, which makes the cold worse. Even if we receive donated blankets, we only get one per household, so it’s not enough.”
 
With many IDPs having been displaced for almost two years, they have received less humanitarian aid as time has gone on, and face numerous ongoing challenges, including food and shelter security.
 
“As the war has dragged on, it has become increasingly difficult to get enough support,” said a relief worker. “In other words, there has been a shortage of donors. In 2025, the number of donations decreased significantly. Most of the war refugees in both southern and northern Arakan State are unemployed and have to work at random, so many of them are struggling to find food and shelter.”
 
Humanitarian aid is still far from reaching most of the displaced due to restrictions imposed by Myanmar’s military regime, and some aid organisations are concerned about security issues.

There are nearly 600,000 IDPs in Arakan State, and many face psychological and physical hardships due to rising prices, hunger, and the military regime’s threats of airstrikes and artillery shelling.