Mrauk-U IDP camps suffer from floods, Covid-19 lockdowns

By DMG 26 Jul 2021

DMG Newsroom
26 July 2021, Mrauk-U 

Some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State have been hit by flooding due to recent heavy rains while Covid-19 lockdowns are making it difficult for inhabitants to earn money for food, according to camp managers.  

The dwellings at Kalarchaung IDP camp in Mrauk-U District, where more than 900 people are sheltering, are inundated, said camp manager U Hla Tun Yin. 

“The water subsides for only around two hours a day. When it rains or when the tide rises, we can row across the camp. All the hostels were inundated except one. Today is the fourth day since the camp was inundated,” he said. 

Elderly people and pregnant women were evacuated from the camp to the monastery at Kalarchaung village since the camp was hit by flooding on July 22. 

At least three other IDP camps in Mrauk-U Township have been grappling with floodwaters and IDPs in some camps have had difficulty buying food as they cannot leave the camps due to Covid-19 lockdowns. 

The Pi Pin Yin camp is flooded and has not received aid supplies from the World Food Programme (WFP), said camp manager Thein Kyaw Myint. 

“The camp is flooded and we are barred from leaving the camp, which has made it harder for us to buy food. And we haven’t received WFP’s monthly contributions of 15,000 kyats per person for two months. We have to borrow from nearby villages and make do with what we have. Some poor families have had to sell their belongings to make ends meet,” he said. 

The Sinbawkaing IDP camp in Mrauk-U, which has been locked down due to Covid-19 infections inside the camp, is short of basic food supplies. 

“Because we can’t leave the camp, we have no basic food such as salt, oil, and vegetables. We have to cook with what we have. No one is selling or providing those things,” said camp manager U Nyi Pu. 

While IDP camps are receiving fewer relief supplies from the government, Covid-19 lockdowns have come as another blow to IDPs as they cannot go out and earn money, said U Shwe Sein Baw, chairman of the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC). 

“IDP camps are receiving fewer relief supplies both from the government and individual donors,” he said. “And people are mostly donating for oxygen plants now. IDPs are ignored while they can’t leave their camps due to lockdown. They are receiving no help amid the lockdown. So, the government and civil society organisations should think of a way to help them before it is too late.” 

More than 235,000 people were displaced by two years of fighting between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army in Arakan State. Some nine months into an unofficial ceasefire between the warring parties, over 100,000 people remain at IDP camps.