Arakan State IDPs call for restraint, peace on World Refugee Day

By DMG 20 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
20 June 2022, Sittwe 

Internally displaced people (IDPs) driven from their homes by past military conflict in Arakan State — and kept in displacement camps by fear of renewed hostilities — called for an end to fighting in Myanmar on World Refugee Day, which falls on June 20. 

Military tensions between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) are currently running high, and IDPs are calling on the relevant parties to exercise restraint at a time when there is an elevated risk of renewed fighting. 

“We have nowhere to run if the fighting breaks out again in Arakan State. Even in this situation, the military situation is not good and I am worried about what will happen one day,” said Ko Kyaw Hla, an IDP from Nyaung Chaung displacement camp in Kyauktaw Township.  

“We have not been able to return to our home since the beginning of the fighting and have been living as IDPs for more than three years, “ he added. “We all want to go home, but we have not been allowed to do so. If there were more fighting, it would be an impossible dream for us to return home, so we no longer want war.” 

U Maung Sein, an IDP from Pi Pin Yin displacement camp in Mrauk-U Township, said most Myanmar military bases were located near IDP camps and villages, adding to feelings of insecurity for many IDPs. 

“I want the issues to be discussed between the two sides during the peace talks. I want the Myanmar military to comply with the demands of the people. Then the people will be able to live in peace without fighting,” he told DMG. 

The United Nations General Assembly decided on December 4, 2000, to recognise World Refugee Day annually on June 20. 

Currently, IDPs in Arakan State face severe food insecurity, shelter difficulties, and inadequate medical supplies. 

IDP camps in Arakan State are not officially recognised by the military council as medium- to long-term circumstances and are instead designated as temporary relief camps, said U Zaw Zaw Tun, secretary of the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC), who added that aid is in short supply. 

“IDPs have been living in displacement camps for many years, but they are still referred to as temporary displaced people, not as IDPs. If the government identifies them as IDPs, they will get the rights and benefits that an IDP deserves, but the government and the UN are not recognising displaced people as refugees and they are losing their rights,” he explained.  

“Displaced people are starving and their homes are in ruins. This year, the economy has been bad and IDPs have suffered more due to the lack of donations from outside donors,” U Zaw Zaw Tun added. 

Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army have largely observed an informal ceasefire since November 2020, after two years of often-intense fighting. More than 200,000 people were displaced by the fighting in Arakan State, and while many returned to their homes following the 2020 ceasefire, tens of thousands remain at displacement camps.