Rathedaung Twsp IDP camps report food shortages 

By Myo Thiri Kyaw 29 Aug 2020

Myo Thiri Kyaw | DMG
29 August, Rathedaung 

Some camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Rathedaung Township are facing shortages of food supplies, according to camp officials. 

Godaung IDP camp in Rathedaung Township reported that more than 200 IDPs there have not received any aid from the government. Moreover, aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which normally provides assistance on a monthly basis, has not reached the camp in recent weeks. Daw Khin Oo Yi, the camp’s in-charge, said that as such, the IDPs are doing their best to address the food supply shortage on their own.

“Aid from the government flows into other camps but our camp has never received assistance from the government,” she said. “All gold and silver jewellery we wore has been sold to solve our problem with food supplies. Now, COVID-19 is spreading elsewhere. We don’t have jobs. In the future, all refugees at the camp might die of starvation.” 

The current food shortages may be exacerbated by restrictions on travel due to a recent outbreak of COVID-19, said Daw Gauk Ma, an IDP at the camp. 

“At present, COVID-19 is terrible. So, food supplies may not reach our camp. However, we wish for the soonest arrival of foodstuffs. We don’t have any food. We need kitchen utensils,” she said. 

Elsewhere in Rathedaung Township, Pyarchaung IDP camp, which accommodates more than 100 IDPs, has not received rations from the government for about three months, said U Myo Nyunt, a member of the camp committee. 

“The households with larger family members face much difficulty,” he said.  

Recent coronavirus-related restrictions limiting access to IDP camps, and barring IDPs from traveling outside the camps, have made self-sufficiency at the camps increasingly infeasible. 

“The pandemic amid existing difficulties brings worsening problems for the IDPs. We ease the difficulties of refugees by giving a helping hand to them as much as we can,” said Ko Bekkar, a volunteer who assists IDPs. 

IDPs have asked the government to create jobs for those in the camps of working age. 

More than 20 camps accommodate tens of thousands of IDPs in Rathedaung Township, many of whom face health problems and woeful living conditions, in addition to food shortages. 

The number of IDPs in Arakan State has climbed to about 200,000 due to ongoing clashes between the military and the Arakan Army over the past two years, according to the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC).