Over 300,000 people displaced by fighting in Arakan State

By Admin 13 Jan 2024

DMG Newsroom
13 January 2024, Sittwe

More than 300,000 civilians have been displaced in Arakan State over the past two months, since renewed fighting broke out between the Myanmar military regime and the Arakan Army (AA) on November 13.

Displacement has been reported across Arakan State with the exception of Thandwe, Manaung and Gwa townships, according to a civil society organisation helping displaced people.

“They are taking shelter with relatives, as well as in monasteries and schools. The number of displaced people has increased as fighting has spread to many towns. The more people are displaced, the worse are the food shortages they face,” a member of the civil society organisation told DMG.

Meanwhile, some 60,000 people displaced by previous fighting remain in displacement camps.

Junta travel restrictions since the outbreak of the latest fighting effectively bar international aid agencies and domestic charities from delivering humanitarian aid to displaced people.

“We were forced to leave our homes, and things are difficult here. We didn’t bring pullovers, and had to borrow from others. And we have to cut our food expenses,” said a displaced woman from Pauktaw Township.

While towns are running out of medicines due to the junta’s blockade, the problem is worse in rural areas and displacement camps, where the blockade is already taking lives.

On December 5, a pregnant woman from Nga Tauk Tu Che Village in Rathedaung Township died while delivering a stillborne child at a village where she was taking shelter. Relatives could not send her to a hospital or even a lesser healthcare facility due to the junta’s travel restrictions.

On December 14, a 17-year-old from Pauktaw Town died at a village where he was taking shelter, had fallen ill and could not receive medical treatment in time.

Arakan State residents have called on the regime to lift travel restrictions on humanitarian grounds.
A social activist from Kyauktaw town said: “There is no humanitarian operation at all in our area. 

The junta-controlled Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement does not work, and organisations that intend to provide relief supplies to displaced people can’t do so due to the junta’s travel restrictions.”