Between 13 and 26 March , more than 50,000 people in four states and regions, including Karen, were displaced by artillery shelling and the burning of houses by military council forces, according to the records from Burma News International (BNI) – Myanmar Peace Monitor, which monitors the peace process in Myanmar.
Of the total 50,651 people displaced in Karen State, Kachin State, Sagaing Region and Bago Region in two weeks, Kachin and Bago accounted for most of them -40,000 people, where fierce clashes broke out between armed ethnic allies and the military council, BNI-MPM records show.
As revolutionary momentum has grown since the military coup, resistance forces in the states and regions have expanded their military operations, while the military council has blatantly targeted civilians, leading to an increase in the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) according to aid workers helping the displaced.
A local from Kyaukkyi Township in Bago Region, who has been displaced by the armed clashes for months, said, “People from our village have scattered to different places. The farmers here had to sell their rice and pulses at any price. The prices offered are very low. Very few villages in our area haven’t fled. When we hear gunshots, we quietly hide in the displacement areas. When it’s quiet, we go out again.”
There are currently over 700,000 IDPs in the areas under the control of the Kachin National Union (KNU). Kyaukkyi Township in KNU Brigade 3 in Nyaunglebin District, Bago Region, hosts most of the IDPs.
In KNU-controlled Karen State, 9,251 people were displaced in the past two weeks due to atrocities committed by the military council. Likewise, 1,400 people were displaced in Sagaing Region, where the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) are active under the command of the Ministry of Defense of the National Unity Government (NUG), according to BNI-MPM records.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)-Myanmar also stated on 19 March that nearly three million people have been displaced across Myanmar and funding for humanitarian assistance is needed.
Sent by KIC.