Ranks of those disabled rising in Arakan State

By Admin 21 Aug 2024

DMG Newsroom
21 August 2024, Sittwe

About 500 civilians have been disabled across Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Minbya townships over the course of more than nine months of fighting between the military and the Arakkha Army (AA), according to a list compiled by the Rakhine State Disabilities Organization.

A total of 496 people — 230 in Mrauk-U, 129 in Minbya, 90 in Kyauktaw and 47 in Ponnagyun — have been disabled by the military-AA hostilities since the latest fighting in Arakan State began in November 2023. The Rakhine State Disabilities Organization says its tallying is approximate, and that the actual number may be higher on the ground.

“Among the disabled, the majority are those with physical disabilities, and there are a few visually impaired. And there are people who are disabled due to body burns,” said Ma Htwe May, general secretary of the Rakhine State Disabilities Organization.

Junta troops’ airstrikes and artillery attacks, as well as encounters with landmines and unexploded ordnance, raids and arson attacks, have been blamed for adding the 496 people to the ranks of Arakan State’s disabled population.

There are undoubtedly many more people in other Arakan State townships who have been disabled by the ongoing conflict between Myanmar’s military regime and the AA, but there are problems with mobile phone, internet and other communications, making collection of accurate disabled tallies difficult.

“I don’t have a job. I myself can’t work anymore. I depend on my parents for food. I depend on everyone for help,” said a disabled man in Kyauktaw Township.

People with disabilities are facing crises amid skyrocketing prices and dwindling or non-existent humanitarian aid support from local and international sources.

“In these difficult times, people with disabilities have no support and everything is difficult. I don’t feel comfortable alone because I need help to move from one place to another. I was mentally and physically depressed, so I’ve been hurt more than a normal person,” said a disabled woman in Ramree Township.

“We cannot ignore the importance of people with disabilities, so we must think about them,” said a human rights activist. “Now we have to help the disabled from the side that can afford it. We must help people with disabilities. Families also need to understand disabilities without prejudice.”

In Arakan State, there were recorded 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.