Hard times for IDP returnees in remote Kyauktaw Twsp villages

By Admin 19 Sep 2024

DMG Newsroom
19 September 2024, Kyauktaw

Residents of Tinma, Pyaingtaing and Malar villages along the upper reaches of the Kaladan River in Arakan State’s Kyauktaw Township say they are struggling to rebuild their lives.

Thousands of local people from those villages were displaced by junta raids and fear of arbitrary arrest during the 2020 fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakkha Army (AA), and many of their homes were destroyed.

“We repaired our homes using tarpaulin sheets brought from the displacement camp. We dare not go to the jungle to cut down bamboo,” said Daw Ma Hla Thein, a local woman from Tinma Village, referring to the threat of landmines beyond the village limits.

Residents of Tinma Village were allowed to return home in March of this year, after the AA seized control of Kyauktaw Town. But IDP returnees are facing numerous difficulties as they attempt to pick up the pieces of their pre-conflict lives amid soaring commodity prices and other challenges.

“We no longer have cattle. Our farmlands were also destroyed so we could not plough them. We rely on cash assistance provided by NGOs,” said U Kyaw Hla Tun, a resident of Pyaingtaing Village.

And while some NGOs are providing food to IDP returnees, they say it is not enough to meet the need.

With landmines not having been cleared in the farmlands owned and cultivated by locals, would-be farmers who now depend on the forests for their livelihood are ever worried about the threat of landmines.

“Those areas are where the junta troops are stationed, so there is a risk of landmines,” said U Maung Oo, a local man from Malar Village. “We are also concerned that we will be injured in landmine blasts when we go to our farmlands. There is landmine awareness, but it is not enough for locals. The armed groups need to clear the landmines.”

The AA clashed with the military near Kyauktaw Township’s Meewa Village and Mt. Taungshae in March 2020, with those hostilities spanning more than 40 days.

Many returning IDPs have attempted to repair their homes on a self-reliant basis, but still need financial assistance to rebuild their lives.