Urgent need for food, clothing as thousands of residents flee junta airstrikes in Sagaing Twsp 

By Admin 10 Nov 2023

DMG Newsroom
10 November 2023, Kawlin, Sagaing Region

Food supplies and clothes are urgently needed for thousands of people who fled to safer locations in fear of junta airstrikes after the People’s Defence Force and ethnic allies occupied Kawlin, a district-level town in Sagaing Region, on November 6.

More than 50,000 residents of Kawlin are sheltering at monasteries and schools in nearby villages and are in urgent need of food items and clothing, according to aid workers.

“Around 50,000 residents of Kawlin are unable to return home and are currently taking refuge at monasteries and schools in villages outside of the town. Anti-regime forces and ethnic allies have taken positions in downtown Kawlin,” said an aid worker.

Local anti-regime forces have barred residents displaced by fighting from entering downtown Kawlin as resistance fighters are conducting clearance operations in the area and announced a date to allow residents to reenter the town, said the Kawlin People’s Defence Force.

Local charities have received some relief supplies for the displaced people, but more humanitarian aid is still needed.

“[Existing] food supplies are not sufficient for the displaced people. As the weather gets colder, IDPs need warm clothes. We are trying our best to get relief items,” said another relief worker.

Anti-regime forces led by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Arakan Army (AA) took control of Kawlin after clashing with junta troops on November 5 and 6.