Hundreds of Sittwe evictees face food, accommodation challenges

By Admin 18 Sep 2024

DMG Newsroom
18 September 2024, Sittwe

Hundreds of residents forcibly evicted from Shwepyitha Ward on the outskirts of Sittwe are reportedly facing food and accommodation difficulties.

The evictees are currently staying in Sittwe's Kontan, Mizan and Shwe Pyar wards, with some taking shelter at the monasteries there.

"We currently live in a rented home. We live together with our relatives in a rented home," said one of the Shwepyitha Ward evictees.

Junta soldiers and police arrived in Shwepyitha Ward and at Kyaytaw Village on September 15 and forcibly evicted residents from the areas.

The regime has tightened security in Sittwe after the Arakkha Army (AA) seized control of Arakan State's Thandwe Township last month amid the ethnic armed group's attempt to capture Maungdaw in the state's north.

Hundreds of local people in Kyaytaw Village have fled to safer locations since early this year due to the junta's penchant for making arbitrary arrests.

Shwepyitha Ward is home to about 1,500 people from around 300 households. The evictees are facing food and accommodation difficulties as the regime did not provide any assistance to them.

"We are currently sheltering at a monastery. The regime did not give us anything. If we don't have a job and run out of money, we will face difficulties," said another evictee.

The regime has also deployed soldiers in Shwepyitha Ward and beefed up security in the neighbourhood.

Junta troops occupied 14 Arakanese villages in Sittwe Township after forcing villagers there to move to Sittwe Town in June of this year.

Hundreds of villagers relocated by the regime and forced to live in Sittwe are facing livelihood hardships and the constant fear of arbitrary arrest by junta forces in the Arakan State capital.