UNHCR donates 3,000 blankets to IDPs in Kyauktaw Twsp

By Mrat Swe 12 Dec 2020

Mrat Swe | DMG
12 December 2020, Kyauktaw 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has provided about 3,000 blankets to internally displaced people (IDPs) at IDP camps in Kyauktaw Township, Arakan State, to help them stay warm during the cool season, according to residents. 

The blankets were donated to IDPs in 15 Kyauktaw Township camps in the first week of December, according to the UNHCR office in Myanmar.    

The UN agency has distributed two blankets to each household in each camp, according to IDP camp officials. 

“Now we are really happy to receive the blankets because we really need them. The IDPs also need warm clothes to get around in the morning and in the evening before going to bed,” said Ko Khaing Myo Aung, the camp in-charge of Nyaungchaung IDP camp.  

He continued that there are more than 1,000 households in the Nyaungchaung IDP camp, which has a population of more than 4,000, and children and adults are in need of warm clothes. 

“I think it is not good to see children and adults with blankets in the morning. IDPs can’t buy warm clothes because they are facing livelihood hardships. That’s why we want the donors to provide warm clothing for the IDPs,” he added.  

IDPs often have to sleep on concrete floors, so additional mats are needed, said U Tun Aye Kyaw, manager of a displacement camp opened at the Sasana Beikman religious edifice in downtown Kyauktaw.   

“Now that we have the blankets, one problem has been solved for the IDPs. But mats are required because IDPs often sleep on concrete floors,” he said. 

There are 35 households and more than 100 people at the Sasana Beikman IDP camp, which is home to displaced people from Myauktaung, Malar, Tharzi, Daukphyu and Wetmakya villages. 

Across Kyauktaw Township, there are 23 IDP camps at present with a total population of nearly 17,000, and there are still camps without sufficient blankets. 

As of November 2, the number of IDPs in Arakan State was reported at more than 236,000 due to the armed conflict between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army over the past two years. 

But as of early this month, the number of IDPs in Arakan State had fallen to about 190,000, according to data compiled by the Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC), as many displaced people have returned home in recent weeks with stability improving in their areas.