According to the management of the aid organisation Dove KK, it takes 20 days for aid supplies to reach internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the remote areas of western Hpruso Township in Karenni (Kayah) State.
K Tu, one of the managers of Dove KK, said that the main difficulties are transportation difficulties, bypassing junta checkpoints and avoiding armed clashes.
“The main difficulties are that there are military columns on the way and vehicles can’t use the routes. Even with motorcycles, we could hardly reach the destination. The villagers had to walk half the way and carry the items in baskets. Some carried them on motorcycles. The road is blocked by the military column. It took about 20 days before the relief supplies could be delivered. They asked for emergency aid because the supply route was cut off,” he said.
The displaced people in Hpruso Township have been forced to flee repeatedly due to Myanmar army’s offensives and are facing food shortages as a result, according to aid workers.
They are seeking shelter in the forests and have had to carry food back from their abandoned villages, said a woman living in western Hpruso Township.
“When they have to flee fighting again and again, they have nothing to eat. Some who dare risk their lives to return to the villages and take their supplies with them. It takes them three or four days to carry the supplies back because they have to walk. As they have to carry the supplies themselves, they are only enough for one family for three or four days,” said the woman from the village.
Aid workers report that the difficult conditions also make it difficult for them to provide help to the displaced people.
U Banyar, Second Secretary of the Karenni State Interim Executive Council (IEC), explained that the displaced people now need to find ways to grow food for long-term food security.
“Whether they are IDPs or villagers, we encourage them to grow as much as they can for themselves. Some groups are also helping them to grow crops where possible. In any case, we have to bring back the supplies we have. One thing is certain – nobody goes back if it is too dangerous. They only go back if they can,” said U Banyar.
According to locals, the Myanmar army has been conducting indiscriminate artillery shelling amid the ongoing armed clashes with the resistance forces in Hpruso Township.
The number of displaced people in Hpruso Township has increased since the fighting escalated in August, with current estimates of around 100,000 IDPs.
Sent by Kantarawaddy Times.
