Residents of the Karen National Union (KNU) Brigade 6 area in the southern part of Myawaddy cannot return to their homes even after a year-long area clearance activities in the area between Lay Kay Kaw Myothit and Waw Lay by the military council army and are struggling to survive, IDPs said.
“We are desperate to return to our own house. It’s been a year since we fled Lay Kay Kaw to the bank of Thaung Rin River. We’ve heard that the Myanmar Army is working with the village elders to make Lay Kay Kaw a safe place again for people to return. I plan not to return until the town, which has been at war for months, is cleared of mines and bushes and there is a guarantee that there will be no more fighting. It is very difficult to support ourselves here,” a woman from a ward in Lay Kay Kaw told the Karen Information Center (KIC).
With no more armed clashes in the area, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and military council officials are coordinating with the administration of Lay Kay Kaw Myothit to make plans for the return of the IDPs, and are carrying out the necessary mine and bush clearing in the town.
However, the IDPs are still in a precarious situation and do not want to return home, said one of the IDPs.
“Right now, the military council is spreading the news that the residents of other villages such as Hteemeiwahkhee, Pahikalaw, Thaybawboe, and Balaydo are returning to their homes. But [it’s not like that], they just took photos of them as if they were returning home. Some followed them to their villages to check what was destroyed in their houses and what they lost. In fact, only a handful of people returned to live there. We’ve heard that bushes are being cleared and roads are being cleaned in Lay Kay Kaw. But it’s not safe yet, because planes are still flying over the city at night,” he told KIC.
Last month, the military council informed local IDPs that it had taken control of Thaybawboe and that IDPs could return home. They also spread the news through their media channels, but only some IDPs returned to their homes.
The IDPs also reported that the administrative officials of Amoe Pyar IDP camp, where about 2,000 IDPs are living, are providing education, health care and essential skills to the families and establishing small-scale agriculture and livestock farms.
Fighting between the Myanmar Army and KNU joint forces erupted when junta forces entered Lay Kay Kaw Myothit on December 15, 2022, to clear the area and began controlling the people. However, the regime’s army has not been able to control the area along the Lay Kay Kaw-Wawlay road even after a full year of its presence, and tensions between the two sides remain high in the area, according to military officials in the area.
Currently, about 7,000 people in six groups live as internally displaced persons in the areas between Lay Kay Kaw and Wawlay and rely on donations for food and medical care.
Sent by KIC.