Shelter needed for displaced Arakan State residents as rainy season looms

By Admin 24 Apr 2024

DMG Newsroom
24 April 2024, Sittwe

Displaced residents in Arakan State whose houses were destroyed or damaged by the junta’s arson attacks and shellings over the past five months need shelter for the rainy season.

With the monsoon season proper a little more than one month away, displaced residents are having difficulties rebuilding their houses due to prohibitive costs.

The prices of goods including foodstuffs, fuel and building materials have soared in Arakan State as the regime has blockaded roads and waterways since the fighting broke out in November.

“We can return home now, but we have no houses. We are now living in a makeshift hut. It is not OK for the rainy season. We are even struggling to have one meal per day, not to mention building a new house,” said a woman from Yeyoepyin Village who lost her home in a junta arson attack.

Some have built makeshift tents near their houses destroyed in junta arson attacks, while others are staying in displacement camps.

“It is not OK if we don’t have proper shelter in the rainy season. Children and elderly persons will be more vulnerable. I am consumed with concerns about how we can safely get through the rainy season,” said a woman from Minbya Township who lost her house in one of the junta’s arson attacks.

Due to the junta’s blockade, most displaced residents can’t get any assistance from international aid agencies.

Writer Wai Hun Aung, who has been helping displaced people, said he is working to provide shelter for the homeless ahead of the rainy season.

“Families whose houses were destroyed in fires need more help. As the rainy season is approaching, we have prioritised helping them,” he said.

Fighting has been raging between the regime and the Arakkha Army (AA) for more than five months in Arakan State. Numerous houses have been damaged and destroyed by the junta’s airstrikes, shellings and arson attacks.