An IDP support group has called on armed groups operating in Mon State to spare civilian areas from conflict, calling on them to refrain from using these areas as battlefields.
The statement was issued after residents of the Gyaing River area discussed support for the IDPs with locals from other neighboring areas at Sasana 2500 Monastery in Mawlamyine on 12 June.
The statement calls on the groups not to commit acts of violence and unlawful killings and not to threaten those providing education, health care and social services to the displaced people.
It also calls for action to be taken against robbery and looting.
Nai Aung Htoo, spokesperson for the IDP support group, said: “We are not targeting individuals or groups with this statement. Those who have done this will understand. If they threatened (the people), they know what they did. We just wanted to urge them to avoid such actions in the future for the good of the people”
Since February 2024, fighting has intensified in Mon State, and more than 20 Mon villages along the Gyaing River have been severely affected by the conflict.
Apart from the residents of the Dhamma Tha area whose houses were burned by junta artillery shelling, some displaced people have returned home and reopened village schools, although junta troops remain stationed in the villages without withdrawing.
On 27 March, the junta troops indiscriminately shelled Dhamma Tha village. As a result, 300 of the more than 1,000 houses in the village were burned down and about 60 were partially burned down.
“Some have returned to their homes, but not in a systematic way. If a family consists of three or four people, maybe only two first return to check and guard the house. For families with school-age children, it may only be one grandmother and one schoolchild. No one has yet resettled properly and resumed normal work. And with the junta troops still stationed in the villages, people are still worried about living in peace,” said a resident of Dhamma Tha village.
According to the IDP support group, 416 houses in the affected villages were burned down due to the armed clashes. More than 50,000 residents from 11 Mon villages near the fighting areas were displaced.
The statement said that the points raised reflect the will of the local people without specifying which armed group committed the said abuses.
Nai Banyar Mon, the spokesman of the New Mon State Party (Anti-Dictatorship), said, “The main cause is the Burma Army troops. The house burnings, the arbitrary killings of civilians, the motorcycle thefts – all these are committed by the junta troops. And these troops are stationed in the villages – I think the villagers understand these situations.”
The IDP support group reportedly consists of Mon monks, the New Mon State Party (NMSP), Mon Unity Party (MUP), the Mon Progressive Party and some Mon social groups recognized by the junta.
Sent by IMNA.