• Burmese
Saturday, September 30, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
25 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News

With Camps Slated for Closure, IDPs Fear for Safety in Home Villages

by Nyein Nyein
June 13, 2018
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Displaced persons take shelter at a Catholic church in Tang Phre village in Myitkyina. / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint / The Irrawaddy

Displaced persons take shelter at a Catholic church in Tang Phre village in Myitkyina. / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint / The Irrawaddy

5.1k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

YANGON – Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kachin and Shan states in northern Myanmar still do not feel it is safe to return to their homes, and forcing them to do so would be a violation of their rights, women’s rights advocates said.

On June 2, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement announced plans to close IDP camps in Kachin, Shan, Karen and Rakhine states. Armed conflict in Kachin and Shan states in the country’s north, and in Karen State in the southeast, as well as communal conflict in Rakhine State in the west, has forced IDPs to take shelter in more than 100 camps throughout the country.

RelatedPosts

Political Prisoners Need Medical Care: Sagaing Committee

Political Prisoners Need Medical Care: Sagaing Committee

September 30, 2023
189
Myanmar Travel Sector Mocks Junta Tourist Claim

Myanmar Travel Sector Mocks Junta Tourist Claim

September 30, 2023
1.1k
Junta Watch: ‘Happy Yet?’ Citizens Polled on 3 Years of Rule By Gun; Dictator Fetes Failed National Truce; and More   

Junta Watch: ‘Happy Yet?’ Citizens Polled on 3 Years of Rule By Gun; Dictator Fetes Failed National Truce; and More   

September 30, 2023
478

“We are very concerned about the consequences of the ministry’s announcement, as the IDPs will have to return to their homes, which they do not yet feel are fully safe,” said Lway Poe Ngeal, general secretary of the Women’s League of Burma (WLB). The WLB is an umbrella organization comprising 13 indigenous women’s groups. Among other activities, it gathers information on IDPs and refugees across the ethnic states.

“Only when the fighting has ceased can the villagers return, even though the situation is not completely secure,” she told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

Since fighting resumed between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and government forces (known as the Tatmadaw), in June 2011, more than 130,000 IDPs have taken shelter at temporary camps in both government- and KIA-controlled areas, according to figures from the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

According to a statement from the KIO’s News and Information Department released on June 9, 19 civilians have been killed and 47 injured by Tatmadaw shelling and landmines, and 450 villages have been destroyed during the seven years since the resumption of hostilities in Kachin and northern Shan.

The frequency of the clashes has increased in the past year. Between May 2017 and May 2018 alone there were 447 engagements between the KIA and Tatmadaw troops.

In late April, intensified fighting between the Tatmadaw and the KIA in Kachin’s resource-rich Tanai, Hpakant, Injangyang and Mogaung townships displaced 6,041 villagers, who are now taking shelter at Kachin Baptist and Catholic churches, as well as Buddhist monasteries, in Tanai, Myitkyina and Hpakant.

Sr. Naw Tawng, a member of a local IDP relief committee in Tanai, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the IDPs there are still dependent on the state government’s assistance, adding that his committee had not heard of any order from the state authorities requiring the refugees/IDPs to return to their homes.

“We were surprised by the Social Welfare Ministry’s plan, as we don’t see any arrangements being made to relocate the existing IDPs to a safer environment. Also, there has been no consultation with the local community on the ground,” said Daw Doi Bu, a Kachin lawyer and outspoken former lawmaker for the Lower House from Injangyang Township, Kachin State.

“Many of the villages were taken over by Tatmadaw troops to house their deployments, and the villagers dare not go back when there are soldiers present,” she told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.

Besides this, some 60,000 Ta’ang (Palaung) IDPs displaced by fighting between the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army South; and between the TNLA and the Tatmadaw, are still in need of humanitarian assistance.

“I am from northern Shan State and I have seen that those IDPs and refugees [displaced since 2012 by frequent fighting in the region] are not ready to go back to their homes,” Lway Poe Ngeal said.

She added that according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organization, more than 60,000 Ta’ang villagers have been displaced, and many have been forced to go back to their villages knowing there is no guarantee of their personal safety.

Many villagers who have fled the fighting — whether it is for a week, a month or three months — have no jobs or means of support in the camps, she said.

She added that these IDPs have been provided with little to no support, in terms of food or landmine awareness, either by the government or non-governmental organizations, partly due to travel restrictions imposed by the Tatmadaw.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: ConflictHuman RightsHumanitarian AidIDPsrefugee camps
Previous Post

Tales of Myanmar’s Political Upheaval

Next Post

A Coffee and Cake Buffet? Yes!

Nyein Nyein

Nyein Nyein

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

The Junta is Losing Control of Southeastern Myanmar: Report

The Junta is Losing Control of Southeastern Myanmar: Report

September 28, 2023
8.4k
Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine

Singapore Called On to Stop Feeding Myanmar Junta’s War Machine

August 24, 2023
8.3k
KIA Seizes Three Key Myanmar Junta Outposts

KIA Seizes Three Key Myanmar Junta Outposts

August 8, 2023
5.6k
Ex-Spy Chief and Business Cronies Donate to Myanmar Junta Chief’s Buddha Statue

Ex-Spy Chief and Business Cronies Donate to Myanmar Junta Chief’s Buddha Statue

July 28, 2023
4.2k
Thailand Sentences 7 to Jail for Protesting Myanmar Coup

Thailand Sentences 7 to Jail for Protesting Myanmar Coup

August 24, 2023
4.1k
Getting Under the Skin of Myanmar’s Dictators

Getting Under the Skin of Myanmar’s Dictators

July 27, 2023
3.3k
Load More
Next Post
One of the many kinds of cake on offer at the Weekend Afternoon High Tea Buffet at the Chatrium Hotel Royal Lake Yangon.

A Coffee and Cake Buffet? Yes!

Sex workers wait for customers in a red-light area of central Bangkok. / Reuters

In Thai Tourist Spots, a Hidden World of Male Sex Slavery

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Notorious Deputy Commerce Minister Purged in Myanmar Junta Price Probe 

Notorious Deputy Commerce Minister Purged in Myanmar Junta Price Probe 

6 days ago
1.7k
Myanmar Junta Slaps Struggling Farmers with Price Controls

Myanmar Junta Slaps Struggling Farmers with Price Controls

6 days ago
1.5k

Most Read

  • Another Junta Flotilla in Upper Myanmar is Under Fire

    Another Junta Flotilla in Upper Myanmar is Under Fire

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Travel Sector Mocks Junta Tourist Claim

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The Junta is Losing Control of Southeastern Myanmar: Report

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar’s Military Bogged Down in North as Resistance Rises

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Minister Discusses Train Lines to China

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.