Hundreds of Mro people seek better prospects in less remote resettlement

By DMG 02 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
2 April 2022, Sittwe

Communities of ethnic Mro people living in remote, mountainous parts of western Myanmar are reportedly planning to migrate for a chance at a better life.

The Mro ethnic people, considered a sub-group of the Chin, typically live in isolated villages in northern Arakan and southern Chin states, where their access to markets, education, healthcare and social services is significantly hampered by poor transportation links.

Mro people living in the Yoe Chaung and Thalu Chaung areas of northern Kyauktaw Township, for example, have limited access to roads, and rely largely on waterways for transportation.

School-age youth are less likely to attend school due to a lack of regular teachers in Mro ethnic areas, which are far from western Myanmar’s urban population centres. One group of Mro said there was no telephone connection in the area they originally hailed from, and it was difficult to get around. There was also no health clinic nearby, making it difficult to receive medical care and leading to many deaths that could have been prevented, they say.

Some Mro ethnic communities in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships are among those displaced by past armed conflict between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army. While the guns have largely fallen silent thanks to an informal ceasefire reached in November 2020, many Mro are reluctant to return home and are seeking alternative resettlement.

“Our native village is a war-torn area. When we return home, we are worried about the dangers of weapons left over from the war,” said U Than Win, an ethnic Mro from Ponnagyun Township’s Htonebu village. “It is no longer possible to work and eat in my native village. So we plan to move to another area to seek a better life.”

The Arakan State Administration Council has relocated some Mro people to vacant land near Kyaukpandu village, at the southern end of the Mayu mountain range in Maungdaw Township. The new settlement will be home to 867 people from 160 households originally from Kyauktaw, Buthidaung, Maungdaw and Ponnagyun townships.

More than 170 people from 31 households have made the move so far.

“The Arakan State Administration Council has provided tarpaulins and rice to Mro ethnic people. There are not many people yet, so for the time being, they are living on what they have. Hopefully everything will be perfect soon,” said U Sani Phyu, an ethnic Mro man from Ginpi village in Kyauktaw Township.

According to residents, the state’s military government has provided a small land plot for housing and two acres of farmland to each family living in the new area.