Despite military council pressure, Arakan IDPs reluctant to return home

By DMG 24 Dec 2022

DMG Newsroom
24 December 2022, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime is pushing internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State to return to their homes, but those uprooted say they dare not do so for the time being.

The military and Arakan Army agreed to an informal ceasefire in late November, following months of renewed hostilities that began in earnest in August. The state military council is planning to return IDPs to their homes although landmine clearance work has not yet been carried out in the vicinity of the villages, and nearby military positions have not yet been withdrawn.

“If our security is not guaranteed, it is impossible for us to return home. We will not be able to make a living if landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) are not cleared. If something happens to us back home, it will be worse than staying in this displacement camp,” said U Aung Kyaw Win, an IDP at Wah Taung IDP camp in Kyauktaw Township.

Among other factors preventing their return, many displaced people have not yet journeyed back to their homes due to an inability to repair damaged houses, lack of employment opportunities, and the aforementioned lack of security as landmines and ERWs remain concerns.

“I am worried that if I go back home, I will have to live in fear,” said U Ko Than Htay, an IDP at Yayphyukan displacement camp in Ponnagyun Township. “When we go to the farm, we don’t dare to go to work. I don’t really want to go home because I can’t predict the state of the country.”

The Arakan State military council held a meeting on December 23 regarding the resettlement of IDPs and the closure of temporary displacement camps, according to the Facebook page of broadcaster MRTV-4.

IDPs are reportedly to be sent back home with K500,000 per household and food provisions intended to last for one month.

An IDP returnee from Angu displacement camp in Myebon Township said that while the food assistance is helpful at the moment, it may not be sufficient over the long term.

“We now rely on food assistance provided by the government. I have nothing because I have to repay the debt of K500,000 supplied by the government to others. I have to repair my damaged home,” he explained.

Angu displacement camp provided shelter to about 230 IDPs, all of whom returned home this month at the arrangement of the Arakan State military council.

“We were told that NGOs and INGOs will be officially barred from supplying IDP camps if we don’t return to our homes. We were forced to sign a pledge that we will return home,” said a woman from Darlet Anauk Village in Ann Township.

Two days after a temporary truce between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) on November 26, Mrauk-U Township General Administration Department officials phoned the managers of displacement camps and asked them if IDPs there who had registered for return would now go back to their homes.

A total of 5,320 IDPs from Ann Township and 589 IDPs from Kyauktaw Township were sent back to their homes, according to a junta-controlled newspaper.

“IDPs’ villages need to be stable and peaceful,” said an official from the Arakan National Party (ANP). The military regime must create job opportunities for IDPs and clear landmines. In this situation, if the IDPs go back to their homes, it may be difficult for them to survive.”

A total of 224 IDPs from 72 households taking shelter at a camp in Kanhtaunggyi town, Myebon Township, were reportedly forced to return home by the state military council in June of this year.

Despite the latest ceasefire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), NGOs and international aid organisations remain barred from providing relief supplies to IDPs in some Arakan State townships.