Displaced Tinma villagers see October return date as increasingly unrealistic

By DMG 30 Aug 2021

DMG Newsroom
30 August 2021, Kyauktaw 

Residents of Tinma village in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, who fled their homes amid conflict in March 2020, say they will not be able to return home in October as was originally planned. 

An agreement was reached between the Arakan State Administration Council and the Tinma villagers on June 24 to ensure the safe return of those displaced, but the military council has been slow to implement the agreement, the villagers said. 

With only one month left until the planned relocation, the Arakan State military council has yet to carry out any demining work or other rehabilitation tasks in the village. 

“Initially, the Arakan State Administration Council said it would return the displaced people and conduct landmine clearance in the village. But so far the local government has not done anything,” said U Maung Win Kyaw, the Tinma village administrator. 

The village administrator continued: “If the villagers are to return home in October, the Arakan State Administration Council must do what is needed right now. We have not been notified by the state council, so we are not sure if we will be able to return home in October.” 

The local government had agreed to provide K500,000 and one month’s supply of rice for each household, to build new houses and create job opportunities when the Tinma villagers returned home. 

Venerable Wayamida, the abbot of the Tinma village monastery, noted that further delays would only prolong the displaced villagers’ difficult and precarious existences. 

“The villagers are living in a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), so they are facing livelihood hardships. The villagers’ jewelry and money have run out, so the displaced villagers will struggle to make ends meet in the next year,” the monk said. 

He went on to say that if the state government does not honour its agreement with the Tinma villagers, other arrangements will be made to facilitate their safe return. 

“If the local government does not allow the villagers to return to their villages, we will return home on our own if the area is stable,” the abbot explained. 

The Arakan State military council has previously stated that delays in implementing the agreement with the Tinma villagers were due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Efforts to return the Tinma villagers and rehabilitation work is underway, insisted U Than Tun, a member of the Arakan State Administration Council. 

“New houses are being built in Lekka and Phar Pyo villages. Once construction of houses in these two villages is completed, new houses are scheduled to be built in Tinma village,” he said. “We are facing difficulties withdrawing money from the banks due to the rainy season and ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. We cannot predict exactly when the Tinma villagers will be able to return home.” 

The Tinma villagers were displaced due to clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) in March of last year. Houses in the village were set on fire after the villagers fled the fighting. 

As a result of the fire, 132 houses and a Buddhist monastery in Tinma village were damaged, according to a survey conducted by visitors to the village in June of this year. 

Eighteen villagers from Tinma were detained by Tatmadaw troops during the fighting with the Arakan Army in March 2020, and they have not been heard from since. 

More than 100,000 IDPs remain unable or unwilling to return home though it has been about 10 months since a cessation of hostilities between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army in Arakan State.