April 29th, 2022
More than 200 refugees from Putao have returned to their home amid security challenges.
On the morning of April 27th, more than 200 Putao refugees who took shelter in Myitkyina returned to their home as the monsoon growing season is approaching.
Seven vehicles loaded with the refugees from Lonesharyar and Swanpiyan left Putao at around 11.10 am this morning, a refugee told the Network Media Group (NMG) on April 27th.
The refugees who returned to their home are from Lonesharyan and Swanpiyan villages in Putao Township.
They took shelter in Myitkyina for nearly three months since February.
They decided to return to their home as the rainy season is approaching. There is no safety, the refugees said.
A male refugee from Lonesharyan said: “No one gives security guarantees. No one gives guarantee for the lives and properties of the returnees.”
As there is no security guarantee, some refugees remain in Myitkyina.
Locals were displaced by the fighting between a combined force of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the People’s Defense Force (PDF) and the military council troops, near Lonesharyan, Swanpiyan, Insiyan and Phatmar villages in February and March, 2022.
The people from those villages fled to the forests and downtown Myitkyina.
With the help of the religious organization, the Kachin CSOs and the Kachin Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG), most of the refugees who were hiding in the forests near the village in late March, returned to their home.
Sent by the NMG.