People displaced by the ongoing fighting in Arakan State are struggling to find shelter and prepare meals due to untimely rains.
A displaced man from Ponnagyun Township said, “We have been living in a hut that we built by the roadside. We don’t have a proper roof. When the wind is strong, everything gets blown away. Yesterday’s rain left us with nowhere to sleep.”
The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) said that they had difficulty cooking meals and finding places to sleep due to the strong winds accompanied by rain on the 20 March night.
The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology forecasted on March 21 that one to two days of heavy rain were likely in the Magway, Mandalay, Yangon, and Ayeyarwady Regions, as well as in Shan, Karenni (Kayah), and Arakan States, due to moderately cloudy weather over the southern parts of the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
As a result, IDPs in Arakan’s townships such as Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U, Sittwe, Pauktaw, Minbya, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung, and Ramree are facing inadequate shelter from the rain.
“Life becomes very difficult when it rains. We have to keep moving from one place to another to find shelter from the rain. With no proper roofing, everyone is suffering,” said a displaced woman from Pauktaw town.
Due to the armed clashes between the military council and the Arakan Army (AA) in Arakan State, the number of IDPs has risen to over 300,000, with increasing needs for food, shelter, roofing, and medical assistance.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has also stated that the humanitarian needs of the IDPs fleeing conflict in Arakan State have reached the most severe level.
Sent by Aung Htein (DMG).