Kyaukphyu residents returning home

By Admin 26 Jun 2024

DMG Newsroom
26 June 2024, Kyaukphyu 

Kyaukphyu residents are returning to their homes after they fled the town for fear of possible fighting. 

“The town was virtually deserted until recently. But there have been many people at markets and on the streets lately,” said a Kyaukphyu resident.

An estimated half of the town’s residents fled Kyaukphyu after the Arakkha Army (AA) warned residents in Kyaukphyu and Sittwe to evacuate the towns. 

Residents say they have returned as they were struggling elsewhere without access to proper food, shelter, healthcare services and education for their children. 

One returnee said: “We left before Thingyan. But things were getting harder day by day. And I was not in good shape. There was little medicine available in the rural village where we were staying. So, we have returned.” 

The return of Kyaukphyu residents to the town will benefit the regime while impeding the AA’s planned attack on the town, said observers.

A social activist native to Kyaukphyu said: “The AA has told residents to leave so that they will not suffer. But with many civilians in the town, the regime can use them as human shields, and the battle will last longer.” 

Military tensions are running high in Kyaukphyu Township, with sporadic clashes between the regime and the AA. 

Since launching its offensive in November, the AA has seized nine townships in Arakan State and Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State.