Disabled people at Arakan State’s IDP camps in need of assistance

By Admin 23 Mar 2023

DMG Newsroom
23 March 2023, Sittwe

People with disabilities living in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State regularly have difficulties in finding jobs and reportedly need assistance.

Disabled people said that they need assistance in receiving medical treatment due to financial difficulties.

The 2019 Inter-Censal Survey found that there were more than 500,000 disabled people in Arakan State, and 70 percent of them were supported by their family members, according to disability rights activists.

“Now is a time when it is not easy even for ordinary people, who can work normally, to find a job, so it is more difficult for disabled people living in displacement camps. Currently, disabled people do not receive food aid and healthcare. People with disabilities need medical treatment, food and financial assistance,” said U Win Hla Aung, manager of the Kanhtaunggyi displacement camp.

There are at least 35 people with disabilities in the Kanhtaunggyi displacement camp. Among them, there are 29 people with congenital disabilities, visual and hearing impairments, four people who have been disabled recently due to various health conditions, and two people who have been disabled due to encounters with explosive remnants of war (ERWs).

There is one disabled person who was injured by a landmine blast and five congenitally disabled people at the Ganantaung displacement camp in Ponnagyun Township.

“I lost one of my legs, so it was difficult for my family to support me as I am the only breadwinner in my family. I can’t work anymore. I have a school-aged child, but I have had to take him out of school,” said U Ba Shwe, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion.

There are people with congenital disabilities and people who have been disabled by ERWs at displacement camps in the towns of Kyauktaw, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun and Ann in Arakan State, and they are hoping to receive food and financial assistance.

In recent years, the number of disabled people in Arakan State has been on the rise due to ERWs and landmine explosions left over from the fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA).

“There are many people with disabilities in Arakan State, but the number of people who have lost limbs and become disabled due to ERW explosions during and after the fighting between the military and AA is also on the rise. People with disabilities have the rights they deserve, but there is still a loss of rights due to the situation in Myanmar,” a disability rights activist told DMG.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have called for greater protections and livelihood support for people with disabilities in Arakan State and Myanmar as a whole.

There are nearly 6 million people with disabilities in Myanmar, according to 2019 figures from the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population. In Arakan State, there were 505,503 people with disabilities — of whom 207,012 were vision-impaired and 110,264 were hard of hearing or deaf — at the time of the ministry’s 2019 inter-censal survey.