More than 300 people in Momeik Township in northern Shan State are in urgent need of food after being forced from their homes more than a month ago, officials said.
The residents were displaced by fighting between military council troops and joint forces of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) late last November, said a person helping the IDPs.
“Food is the most important thing for them. They are collecting little by little and donating. The donations include both food and money. They don’t have big donors. We distribute the donations to three places. Other small amounts go directly to the IDPs. We distribute three pyis of rice for adults and two pyis for children for a week, as well as other food for curry,” he said.
Those helping the IDPs say more than 140 Lisu are struggling to get drinking water.
“The group of Lisu there needs drinking water. For that, the well should be dug properly. There are many of them. They are a group of about 150 people. There is no access to water because it is a new place. So they need water. According to our calculations, it will cost at least MMK 30 million to dig a well. If we want to get water through pipes, we have to connect three miles.”
After more than a month of displacement, the more than 300 IDPs have found refuge in downtown Momeik, including more than 200 people from Yae Pone village in Palaung Gone, 30 people from Namshee village in Myoma Baptist Church and 141 Lisu from Thayet Taw village, according to those helping the IDPs.
A person helping IDPs in Palaung Gone said, “There are still about 300 people. Most of them are children and elderly people who cannot work. About 30 people are in the Baptist church. And there are about 140 people from the Lisu people. They have not returned yet. Some of them have started looking for new places to settle. The Palung live in the houses of their relatives in Palaung Gone. The Kachin group lives in the Myoma Baptist church. The Lisu live in the youth training center there. They all live in their own groups.”
They are not returning to their villages because they still fear renewed clashes as there is still military activity in the area, the IDPs said.
From late November to the first week of December last year, fighting broke out near the villages of Loimauk and Kharchi in Momeik in northern Shan State between regime troops and joint KIA and PDF forces, forcing residents to flee to downtown Momeik. One junta soldier was killed in the incident.
In addition to the military council forces, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), and People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) are also present in Momeik Township.
Sent by NMG.