Hundreds of Mro internal migrants face livelihood difficulties

24 Jan 2023

DMG Newsroom
24 January 2023, Maungdaw

Nearly a year after they migrated to a purpose-built settlement in southern Maungdaw Township, Arakan State, more than 600 ethnic Mro people are still facing difficulties in terms of access to healthcare, economic opportunities and education.

In February 2022, the Arakan State military council established a new village in Maungdaw Township named “Mro Yuywar” to accommodate 627 ethnic Mro people from 104 households across Kyauktaw, Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Ponnagyun townships.

“We are now unemployed. If we are going to do agriculture, we don’t have cattle or agricultural equipment at the moment. We tried to plough and cultivate the fields, but we couldn’t,” said U Khaing Maung Thein, an ethnic Mro man living in Mro Yuywar Village.

The Arakan State military council has provided 20 cows for agricultural purposes, but the Mro villagers say the cows are too old to plough.

In addition, since there is no rural clinic in the village, the Mro migrants are also experiencing difficulties in health-related matters. In cases of emergency, they must travel to Inndin village, about three miles away from the village. Since there is no road to get there, however, they have to go on foot, according to the villagers.

“We always need healthcare. I would like to have either a [medicinal] dispensary or a rural health unit in the village. If that were the case, it would be really beneficial for both our health and the children’s,” said U Maung Hla, a resident of Mro Yuywar Village.

Some children and adults are suffering from diarrhoea, fever and cough due to unclean drinking water. Four tube-wells have been dug to obtain drinking water, but it is not suitable for drinking because it contains salt.

“There is a drain near the village and it is close to the sea, and only salty water comes out. Spring water is not clean and they get diarrhoea. We have a lot of problems with drinking water. We will face more difficulties when summer comes,” said Ma Khin Than, a local villager.

The ethnic Mro people live primarily in the Arakan State townships of Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Buthidaung and Maungdaw, with their total population numbering only in the tens of thousands.