Farmers in Kyaikmaraw Township in Mon State have been struggling to harvest rice since 10 November as fighting in the township has intensified, according to local farmers.
Fighting and artillery shelling by the Myanmar Army forces have displaced more than ten thousand people from at least 20 villages, including Chaunghnitkhwa, Taungkalay, Mayangone, Kadar, Hlakazaing, Meikayo, Kawtdun, Kawtpanaw, Kawtwan, Kunngan and Weangeit in Kyaikmaraw Township.
As the entire villages has fled during the rice harvest season, local farmers say they are unable to hire labour for the rice harvest.
“All the people have fled the villages where the fighting is ongoing. Everyone has run away. Last year, when we couldn’t hire workers from our own village, we just turned to the nearby villages. But now it is not easy to hire people, even if we offer higher wages,” said a farmer from Kyaikmaraw.
On 29 November, artillery shells hit houses of Kawtpanaw village in Kyaikmaraw Township, forcing the entire village to flee to safer places.
Aside from the lack of labour for the rice harvest, farmers are not even entering their fields because of the shelling, said another rice farmer.
“We can’t just hire laborers, when we hire harvesters, they refuse, saying they can’t enter the fields because of the fighting. The rice is already ripe. Without workers and harvesters, it will be even more difficult for those who have more acres of the crop,” he said.
A female farmer also said that they occasionally come across junta troops taking up positions near their fields, which causes fear among the farmers.
“We sometimes encounter Myanmar Army soldiers near our fields. When they are in the huts, they come and question us. Even if we haven’t done anything wrong, we get frightened,” she said.
Fighting broke out in the area after resistance fighters jointly attacked the Chaunghnitkhwa police station and the bridge checkpoint in Kyaikmaraw Township.
According to locals, at least five civilians have been killed and more than ten others injured and numerous houses damaged since the fighting began.
The fighting in the township of Kyaikmaraw has been going on since early December.
The resistance forces have entrenched themselves in their area while the military regime continues to increase its troop strength, leading locals to believe that the fierce clashes could continue.
Sent by IMNA.