Internally displaced people (IDPs) along the border between Shan State and Karenni (Kayah) State are being forced to forage in the jungle for any vegetables they can find after Myanmar’s military council increasingly restricted the transport of food, according to aid workers assisting the displaced.
With military tensions running high along the Shan-Karenni border, the junta has banned the transport of medicine and food, leaving IDPs without adequate supplies of rice, oil and salt, said an IDP aid worker from Pekon Township.
“It is difficult to transport food. Because of the ongoing fighting, they have also blocked the routes we used to use. But on the routes we can take, the PNO soldiers demand money. They don’t allow the transportation of rice and cooking oil. We even have to pay taxes if we want to transport diesel. We can only distribute rice to the displaced when we have donors. When we don’t have donors, we have to think about other means. They have to consume sparingly,” the aid worker explained.
He went on to say that more than 200 bags of rice are distributed every month to some 7,000 IDPs in Pekon Township.
Since there are no jobs or income in the IDP zones, they rely solely on food donations and have to take care of other needs themselves, said an IDP from Demoso Township.
“Families who run out of rice have to ask for rice from the camp committee with a ticket. There is an emergency distribution point, though. They can only give each person one or two pyis of rice. They have to go around and ask for rice with a ticket,” said the IDP.
The IDPs rely on vegetables from the jungle and can only afford meat and fish occasionally, he said.
With transportation disrupted in conflict areas, a 24-pyi bag of Shwebo Paw Hsan Hmwe now costs over 100,000 kyats, and an egg costs 300-400 kyats.
If donor aid comes to a halt at a time of such sharp price increases, IDPs could face critical food shortages, aid workers added.
Similarly, an IDP from Moebye said, “We can’t farm below this dam. The military council is shelling it from afar with artillery. But on the Pekon side, they can still grow rice if they get enough rain. We need help right now. I would be grateful if people could give it” to us.
Inadequate nutrition has left some IDPs malnourished and vulnerable to diseases. According to an 1 October report by the Progressive Karenni People Force (PKPF), 142 IDPs have died from disease and poor health over two years since the coup.
Sent by Shan Herald.