Rainy season raises stakes for IDP camps in need of repairs

By DMG 16 Jun 2021

DMG Newsroom
16 June 2021, Sittwe

It will be very difficult for internally displaced people (IDPs) to stay put in the rainy season this year if the temporary tents that were built in previous years are not rebuilt in time, said managers of IDP camps in Arakan State.

Ko Myo Lwin, a local resident in Ann Township who is assisting the IDPs, said that 35 tents from the township’s No. 2 IDP camp, which has a population of more than 1,000, had been reported to concerned authorities as needing emergency repairs.

“Although the government has set up IDP camps, it does not provide adequate support to the IDPs. In the past, outside organisations provided assistance to the IDPs. Now that there is no such thing, the IDPs are facing a lot of difficulties,” he said.

“The IDPs cannot afford to rebuild their collapsed tents. Government officials have not yet commented, so it will be very difficult for the IDPs in the rainy season.”

Ko Myo Lwin said authorities ought to be more effective and accountable in helping the IDPs, not merely pretending to address their needs.

“In our area, the land is low and the tide is rising and it is raining heavily, leaving the IDPs without a place to live,” said Thein Kyaw Mya, manager of Pi Pin Yin IDP camp in Mrauk-U Township. “The makeshift tents have not yet been submerged, but the entire base has been submerged, making it impossible for the IDPs to stay. If it rains more than this, it will be more difficult for the IDPs.”

Some IDPs have been forced to sell their jewelry to make ends meet due to a shortage of donors and a shortage of job opportunities.

“All the makeshift tents were leaking, so I had to cover the roof of the tent. The water was so high that I wondered where to run if it rained more,” said Daw Saw May, an IDP from Gutarpyin displacement camp in Rathedaung Township.

Some IDP camps have yet to receive food aid from local authorities and civil society groups this month, according to camp officials.

Makeshift tents from some IDP camps such as Sinbawkine, Nyaungchaung, Sanyin, and Kanhtaungyi have not been fortified or rebuilt due to a lack of donors.
DMG contacted U Than Tun, a member of the Arakan State Administration Council, about providing food and shelter to the IDPs in need, but he could not be reached.

According to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC), more than 100,000 IDPs have not been able to return to their homes following some two years of conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA).