IDP shelters in Buthidaung Twsp weathered and worn

By DMG 09 Dec 2021

DMG Newsroom
9 December 2021, Buthidaung 

Houses at some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Buthidaung Township, Arakan State, are in need of repair as they are deteriorating, said managers of the IDP camps. 

Houses at Yan Aung Myay IDP camp, where more than 650 people are sheltering, are damaged and their inhabitants are facing difficulties living in them, said U Maung Soe Than, manager of the camp. 

“The houses were built three years ago, so the roofs and the walls are deteriorating now. We do not have donors at the moment and IDPs are facing difficulty living there,” he said. 

Residents of 11 villages have taken refuge at Yan Aung Myay IDP camp after past clashes between the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) and Arakan Army (AA) in Buthidaung Township. 

Ko Aung Htay, a villager taking shelter at the Yan Aung Myay IDP camp, said: “Houses in the camp are tilting after a storm. People are facing job scarcity and no donors now. We are facing challenges to repair the houses because the prices of bamboo and planks are rising.” 

Houses at Mya Taung, Lan Ma Kyaung and Gandaryone Kyaung IDP camps in Buthidaung Township are also damaged, camp managers said. 

U Maung Phyu, manager of Mya Taung IDP camp, said: “Almost all the houses are deteriorating. They are in urgent need of repair. We need donors to rebuild them.”

At the height of the 2018-2020 conflict between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army, more than 230,000 IDPs had fled their homes due to clashes in Arakan State. 

Tens of thousands of IDPs have returned home, as an end to the fighting in earnest has prevailed for more than a year. Many more remain in displacement camps and hope to return home, but are unable or unwilling to do so due to the risk of landmines, nearby military deployments, lack of shelter, job scarcity and other hardships wrought of the mental and physical damages of war.