Kyauktaw Twsp IDP camp’s shelters in need of repair

05 Jan 2022

DMG Newsroom
5 January 2022, Kyauktaw 

Homes for internally displaced people (IDPs) at Wah Taung camp, in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township, are in a state of disrepair and urgently need to be repaired, according to a camp official. 

U San Hla Maung, a resident of Wah Taung IDP camp, said that as he considered repairing his home by himself, he concluded that he dare not go to the nearby forest to cut bamboo due to the dangers of landmines. 

“My home is badly damaged now and living as a family of seven is not convenient,” he added. 

IDPs at the Wah Taung camp want local authorities to repair their damaged dwellings as soon as possible. 

“My home is now without roofs and the floors are cracked. The cost of repairing my home is unaffordable and we need wood and bamboo,” said U Kyaw Kyaw, an IDP from Tel Wa village. 

The World Food Programme (WFP), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement provide monthly food aid to the camp, but there is an urgent need to renovate the camp’s accommodations. 

“What is needed now is to repair the damaged homes. During the winter, the IDPs are in more trouble. I want the relevant department to repair the damaged homes as soon as possible,” said U Naing Tun Win, a camp manager. 

Since fighting broke out between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State in December 2018, more than 1,000 people from several villages in Kyauktaw township, including Kha Maung, Tel Wa, and Thein Chaung, left their homes and have been staying at Wah Taung camp. 

There have been no major clashes between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army in Arakan State for more than a year, as the two sides have reached an informal ceasefire arrangement. Nonetheless, most IDPs living in the Wah Taung camp want to return to their homes, but have not been able to do so for fear of landmines and food shortages. 

“At present, there is a lack of shelter, so we are suffering from wind and health concerns. I want local authorities to provide wood and bamboo to the IDPs,” said Daw Ma Hla Oo, an IDP from the Wah Taung camp. “I also want to ask the concerned officials to clear the landmines so that the IDPs can return home and support health and educational matters, including food [security].”