Over 100 IDPs evicted from military-claimed land in Buthidaung need relief supplies

By DMG 02 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
2 November 2022, Buthidaung 

More than 100 people are struggling to make ends meet and need assistance after they were evicted from a plot of land adjacent to Yanaungmyay Monastery in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township that the Myanmar military claims ownership of, according to camp officials and IDPs. 

At least 40 makeshift tents were removed from the military-owned land and the displaced people are currently living in equally makeshift tents made of tarpaulin within the monastery compound. Some of the IDPs built temporary huts at their relatives’ homes in downtown Buthidaung. 

“We are facing difficulties accessing accommodation and food items,” Daw Oo Kyawt Yin, an IDP, told DMG. “We dare not return home. If the military council wants us to return home, they must clear the landmines and provide necessary assistance such as food, healthcare and education. We are afraid of the military troops stationed in the village.” 

The township General Administration Department issued an eviction notice last month, with an October 31 deadline to vacate.  

“They live outside the monastery as there is no more space for them. They were forcibly evicted from a plot of land that the Myanmar military claims ownership over,” said U Maung Soe Than, manager of the IDP camp. 

“Some IDP families returned home in recent months as they didn’t receive rice provided by the military council. We currently live in the returnees’ shelters [in the Yanaungmyay IDP camp], but we are struggling to make ends meet,” said an evictee. 

From August to mid-October, the number of IDPs in Arakan State and neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State, has increased by more than 17,000 due to the resurgence of fighting between the military and Arakan Army. 

In a statement on October 19, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that with those newly displaced, the total number of IDPs from past and present military-AA fighting stood at more than 91,000. 

The regime has also barred local and international NGOs that supply food and other humanitarian assistance to IDPs from travelling to Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung, Minbya, Mrauk-U and Myebon townships since September 16, citing security concerns.