Novice at Sittwe monastery turned IDP camp is second to contract COVID-19

By Myo Thiri Kyaw 17 Dec 2020

Myo Thiri Kyaw, DMG
17 December 2020, Sittwe 

Internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering at a monastery in the Arakan State capital Sittwe are facing livelihood difficulties as a lockdown of the religious complex, which is currently doubling as a displacement camp, has been extended after a second COVID-19 case was detected there last week.  

More than 150 IDPs displaced from homes in Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw and Paletwa townships have sought refuge at the Su Taung Pyae Monastery, where the abbot tested positive for COVID-19 on December 8 and a 17-year-old novice became the second recorded case on December 10.   

The abbot and novice are in “home” isolation at the monastery, and all IDPs have so far tested negative for the virus, according to the IDP camp management. 

Ashin Agga Pandita, a monk at the monastery, told DMG that IDPs are food-insufficient and struggle to access healthcare with the monastery locked down. 

“The WFP [World Food Programme] and CSOs provided some humanitarian aid for IDPs. I am concerned for their health because all of them have to stay in a hall. They all are in difficulty for their livelihoods because they cannot earn money when they are not allowed to go outside for work,” he said. 

“IDPs are staying at the camp without social distance, so we are worried for their health. The elders need medicine. Though we’re into the colder season, no one came and donated warm clothes so far,” said U Oo Ba Thein, an IDP at the monastery. 

“We have to work any job available because we need money. Now, we cannot work as the monastery is under lockdown,” he said. 

More than 30,000 IDPs in Arakan State have returned home in recent weeks as the conflict between the military and the Arakan Army has eased, but some 190,000 are still living at IDP camps and other displacement sites, according to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress.