Relief aid for Arakanese IDPs diminished

25 Jul 2019

Aung Htein | DMG

25 July, Sittwe

The humanitarian aid for IDPs in Arakan State has been diminishing due to the ongoing skirmishes between the Tatmadaw and the AA, relief aid workers said.

Thabawa Nadi Sayardaw, who is providing aid for IDPs, said that humanitarian assistance for IDPs has decreased because relief aid organizations are short of funds and the Internet blackout leads to losing contact between the IDP camps and donors.

“Previously, we could provide 50 bags of rice for a camp, now we can provide 30 bags. We are accepting donations online. Since Internet access has been blocked in the region, donors cannot know the needs of IDPs. So, funding is less now,” the monk said.

The decrease of relief aid has made life for IDPs much worse, said U Wai Hla Aung, manager of Tin Nyo IDP camp.

“In the Summer, a lot of relief aid organizations arrived here. We had to invite donors in the rainy season to provide for IDPs. The less donors there are, the greater the difficulty will be in IDP camps,” he said.

The Myadasaung IDP camp in Mrauk-U has sufficient food and other basic needs at the moment, but the IDPs may face serious difficulties if their supplies begin to dwindle in the future.

“We have sufficient food for next two months. But the camp will face difficulties if the aid begins to diminish. At the moment, we sometimes spend our own money for the needs of the refugees,” said U Maung Aye Kyaw, manager of the Myadasaung IDP camp.

Charity groups are offering donations via online, but the government has cut off mobile data services since 21 June. 

Some charity groups collected funds from people around towns and villages eventually these people were prohibited by authorities to raise funds. On 22 July, Sittwe township court fined eight people from a charity group K20,000 (USD 13.3) for collecting funds in Arakan State’s capital Sittwe without permission.

In addition, the regional government has banned international organizations, apart from ICRC and WFP, to enter sensitive areas because of security, this could lead to impeding the well-being of IDPs, relief aid organizations said.

The ongoing fighting between the Tatmadaw and the AA in Arakan State has forced over 50,000 people displaced homes and they are facing poor living conditions and health problems.