Arakan IDPs in need of blankets and warm clothes

By DMG 26 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
26 October 2022, Kyauktaw

Thousands of people displaced by fighting between the military and Arakan Army in Arakan State need warmer clothes and blankets for the coming months as seasonal temperatures begin to fall, according to displacement camp officials.

There are still no social organisations providing these items to the Taungmin Kalar camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kyauktaw Township, where more than 400 displaced people are taking refuge, said U Kyaw Win, manager of the displacement camp.

“Now that it’s the beginning of autumn … we don’t have enough blankets and warm clothes, so I think it will be difficult for us,” he told DMG. “No social organisations have yet donated blankets and warm clothes to us.”

There is currently no one to provide blankets and warm clothes to IDPs at the Pale Pauk IDP camp in Minbya Township, according to U San Hla Kyaw, an IDP there.

There is no support for displaced people at Phayarpaw IDP camp in Mrauk-U, said U Maung Phru Chay, manager of the camp.

“IDPs are in need of blankets and warm clothes, and are facing livelihood hardships,” he told DMG. “No organisation nor the government has provided food and clothing to IDPs. Children have fevers, coughs and runny noses because now is the beginning of winter. We will be OK only if we are provided with blankets and warm clothes.”

Social organisations have supported IDPs at the Ahtet Myethle IDP camp in Ponnagyun Township with blankets and warm clothes in the past, but no one has come to support them as colder temperatures settle in this year, said Ko Aung Naing Win, manager of the camp.

“Local charities have donated blankets and warm clothes to IDPs in recent years. The weather has become cold, so there are children who have runny noses and coughs. People who can afford it can buy medicine, but those who can’t afford it are affected by illness if there is no one to support them,” he told DMG.

The number of IDPs in Arakan State and neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State, has increased by more than 17,000 due to the resurgence of fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA) from August to mid-October.

In a statement on October 19, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that with those newly displaced, the total number of IDPs from past and present military-AA fighting stands at more than 91,000.