Chin State government arranging for IDPs’ return in Paletwa Twsp

By Myo Thiri Kyaw 05 Jan 2021

Myo Thiri Kyaw | DMG
5 January 2021, Sittwe 

The Chin State government is arranging for internally displaced people (IDPs) to return home as it has been about two months since fighting was last reported between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army in southern Chin’s Paletwa Township. 

The state government said it has submitted a request to the union government seeking assistance for IDPs in Paletwa Township to go back home, and to facilitate livelihood opportunities in their areas of return. 

U Soe Htet, the Chin State minister for Municipal Affairs, Electricity and Industry, said some IDPs are already preparing to return home.  

“We submitted to the union government about IDPs who want to return home. However, not all of them should return home because they might face difficulty for their livelihood. They left home and their farms for more than a year. So, they will need help from the government for their livelihood,” he said. 

“I submitted to the union government to provide aid for them,” the minister added. 

The Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and the World Food Programme are working to facilitate IDPs’ livelihoods upon returning home, and a Yangon-based relief organisation will provide clothes for them. 

Daw Hla Kyawt Yine, a resident of Yote Wa village in Paletwa Township, said she could not return home though hostilities have ceased in the area, because Tatmadaw troops are positioned near her village. 

“I am pretty scared of the soldiers. They are living near our village. That’s why I do not return home,” she said. 

Daw Hla Kyawt Yine said she was worried that clashes might recur after IDPs like herself have returned to their homes. She added that the longer IDPs are displaced, the more they struggle to access healthcare, livelihood opportunities and accommodation. They are also in need of warm clothes, she added. 

U Tin Oo, a resident of Mee Let Wa village who is taking refuge at Withotetaryone Monastery, said he would return home if the Chin State government and Paletwa Township administrators take responsibility for the villagers’ well-being. 

“How can we return home if there is no one to take responsibility for us? Nothing is heard from the relevant authorities. We heard that the Arakan State government has arranged for IDPs to return home,” he said.  

The epicentre of the Tatmadaw-AA conflict, neighbouring Arakan State saw the number of IDPs surpass 235,000 in October, before falling below 200,000 in more recent weeks amid the region-wide détente between the two warring sides. 

Due to the two-year conflict, the IDP population in Paletwa Township exceeds 7,000, according to people providing aid for those displaced. 

Commodity prices have risen significantly in Paletwa Township due to conflict-related closures of waterways and roads, further straining the limited financial resources of IDPs and other township residents. The Chin State government has pledged to bring down the cost of staples like rice.