Wet Hla IDP camp in Mrauk-U Twsp needs food

By DMG 10 Aug 2021

DMG Newsroom
10 August 2021 

The Wet Hla camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township is in dire need of food, the manager of the camp said. 

A total of 885 people from 192 households are sheltering at the camp, and recent flooding following heavy rains has impacted the camp. 

The camp has not received food supplies for more than two months and urgently needs them, including rice, according to camp manager U San Nyunt. 

“The World Food Programme and the government previously provided rice and money, but they have not provided for the camp for three months. IDPs are jobless and they have to eat what they have available. When we told donors about the situation of the camp, they faced difficulty to donate because they cannot take out cash from the bank,” he said. 

IDPs have to borrow money from the residents of nearby villages to resolve their current difficulties, said Daw Saw Win Nu, who is taking shelter at the camp. 

“We have to borrow money from villagers while the donations from the government have not arrived. As we have not received donations for some months, our debt is bigger. And, they do not want to lend to us because we cannot repay the debt. We do not have incomes. We are jobless,” she said. 

The IDPs at the camp are from Letkar, Phayargyi and Auk Thar Kan villages in Mrauk-U Township, Oat Kyut, Akhaza and Nagumay villages in Kyauktaw Township, and Sanyinwa village in Paletwa Township, Chin State. 

Of the more than 100,000 IDPs in Arakan State, many are in need of Covid-19 prevention supplies and food supplies during the ongoing third wave of the virus.