Chin State IDPs told to return home in October

By Admin 13 Sep 2023

DMG Newsroom
13 September 2023, Paletwa, Chin State
 
Thousands of people who were displaced by fighting between the military and Arakan Army (AA), and are currently sheltering in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, have reportedly been pushed by the regime to return to their homes next month.
 
Displacement camp managers were summoned to the township General Administration Department office on August 19 and told to make necessary preparations for home returns in October, according to an official from one camp for internally displaced people (IDPs).
 
“All IDPs taking refuge at displacement camps in downtown Paletwa must return home in October. The exact date for the return of IDPs has not been set yet,” the IDP camp official added.
 
IDPs at displacement camps in downtown Paletwa largely do not want to return home, but are being forced to do so, said Daw Khaing Win Shwe, an IDP woman from the Agriculture IDP camp.
 
“If we do not return home, we have no place to live. We would like to ask the regime to clear the landmines before we return to our homes. We also want the regime to provide us with cash assistance to repair our homes and food items,” she added.
 
The primary reasons why many IDPs are still unable to return home are the presence of junta troops in and around their villages, fears of renewed fighting, and landmines, as well as an overall lack of security guarantees.
 
In May, IDPs were summoned to the township General Administration Department office by a tactical command officer from the military and pushed to return home in October.
 
“The military junta should supply us with food items for one year because we no longer have cattle. How can we make a living in our villages?” said an IDP man from the BEHS displacement camp.
 
About 2,700 IDPs from the villages of Hnamadar, Thuhtaygon, Lelhla, Thakarchaung, Kaythet and Thayettaung in Paletwa Township are currently taking refuge at seven displacement camps in downtown Paletwa.
 
The military regime sent some 450 people displaced by fighting between the military and Arakan Army in Paletwa Township back to their homes in December 2022.
 
Some IDPs have returned home after the junta and Arakan Army reached their latest informal ceasefire, on humanitarian grounds, more than nine months ago. But many IDP returnees are reportedly facing livelihood hardships.
 
There are more than 58,000 IDPs in Arakan State and Paletwa Township who are currently unable to return home due to conflict, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)