May 17th, 2022
The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) taking shelter along Thaungyin River on the Thai-Myanmar border, are facing a shortage of drinking water and accommodation difficulties as the rainy season has set in, the IDPs say.
Naw Ma Nge, an IDP, told the KIC: “Now water is not clean. Many children are ill. My child was fat when we arrived here. Now my child is thin. It is raining here. I don’t dare to return to my village. Shootings are taking place here every day. I want to stay at my home peacefully.
In the wake of the coup, fighting has been taking place in the Karen National Union (KNU)-controlled territory every day. Fighting is gaining momentum. Locals have fled to safer places as the military council is carrying out targeted attacks on the villages and civilians.
Currently, the water of Thaungyin River is contaminated due to the daily rainfall. Children and the elderly suffer fever and diarrhea, the IDPs say.
Officials are solving the difficulties being faced by the IDPs in the rainy season by seeking every possible means. But they are unable to fully satisfy the needs of the IDPs.
An official from the IDP camp who declined to be named said: “It is impossible for the IDPs who are taking shelter along the creek, to continue to stay when there are heavy rains. We have to find new places for the IDPs. We have received cash assistance for tents. The IDPs are working together to cut bamboo and build the huts. The IDPs will get new accommodation and enjoy health care, he added
Currently, the officials have got 100 makeshift tents for the accommodation of the IDPs. But the makeshift tents are under construction. So, the IDPs have to stay in the bamboo forests.
The IDPs from the east of Dawna Mountain have been taking shelter there for over five months. Relevant officials said they are making all-out efforts to take care of them.
“We are doing our best to get food rations for the IDPs. We are worried about the shortage of food rations. The major requirement for the IDPs is rice. We have to contact the organizations to get assistance,” he told the KIC.
Road access is cut off by the continued guerrilla fighting. The organization helping the IDPs find it difficult to provide aid for the IDPs.
Fighting and military tension continue between the military council troops which invade the Karen National Union (KNU)-controlled territory and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
Sent by the KIC.