Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) taking shelter in forests due to the fighting in Hsihseng Township of Shan State, are facing a shorttage of rations, according to the people helping IDPs.
Food stocks are running low as long as the IDPs have to take shelter in forests for a prolonged period of time due to the fighting between the Pa-O National Liberation Army (PNLA) allied forces and the military council, said the people helping IDPs.
A person helping the IDPs in Hsihseng said: “They are the IDPs taking shelter in forests, farms and beside the creek. At present, they face a shortage of rations. Some IDPs have to eat boiled rice and dried rice while some others have to eat boiled rice mixed with vegetables.”
On the other hand, due to the intense fighting, the IDPs are unable to return to their homes to carry food and are facing a food shortage these days, he said.
Currently, the number of IDPs who have fled to the forests has reached around 10,000.
They are in need of rations, tarpaulin sheets and medicine as they have to flee only the clothes on their backs.
A member of a social organization said: ÒCurrently, our region is in urgent need of health care.
Pregnant women, children and the elderly need health care. The hospitals and clinics remain closed due to the ongoing fighting. We have to transport the patients to Taunggyi.
The wounded are at high risk for death if they are not admitted to the hospital in time. We face indiscriminate shootings while rushing to the battlefields.Ó
More than 40,000 locals have been displaced by the fighting in Hsihseng Township. They are taking shelter in Taunggyi, Kyauktalonegyi and Hopong and villages.
Sent by Shan News