LASHIO / KUNLONG, Shan State — Tens of thousands of civilians who fled fighting between the Burma Army and Kokang rebels in Laukkai and the wider Kokang Special Region find themselves scattered across northern Shan State and China’s Yunnan province.
Among them are a large contingent of migrant workers from central Burma who, after seeing their salaries disappear along with the employers that dispensed them, are weighing their options at temporary camps in Lashio, Kunlong and elsewhere.
“We left all of our belongings to speed up travel. Our lives were the most precious thing to save first,” said Kyaw Min, a worker who arrived in Kunlong, about 32 miles southwest of Laukkai.
Many workers like Kyaw Min are from small towns and villages in Magwe and Pegu divisions and the Irrawaddy Delta region, drawn to northeast Burma annually to work on plantations during the sugarcane harvest.
With their Kokang bosses and plantation owners having fled to China as battles raged between Kokang rebels and government troops, these workers were unpaid and abandoned in the sugarcane fields located on the outskirts of Laukkai and other towns in the Kokang Special Region.
When food supplies on the plantations dwindled but gunfire did not, most decided to leave the fields to undertake risky journeys back to their homes. Early movers were able to hire trucks out of the region, but those departing later had no choice but to walk as transportation options dried up with the mass exodus.
“We had to sell some of our belongings to make some money. Some of us couldn’t even carry clothes or blankets, even though they are sick. But we are really glad we made it to Lashio and hope to go back home very soon,” said Naing Oo, a worker from Pegu Division.
“We just want no war. Because of war, we lost our jobs, earning no money and instead having to run for our lives,” he added.
The conflict began on Feb. 9 and has pitted the Kokang rebel Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) against government troops in some of the fiercest fighting in years. Dozens of soldiers on both sides have been killed, with untold civilian casualties as well.
Among the displaced in Lashio are the families of civil servants, police personnel and Burma Army soldiers. Most of them have left husbands, sons or daughters in Laukkai, where fighting continued on Thursday.
Some have lost loved ones in the ongoing conflict.
“My husband died during the battle in Laukkai and the army sent us here to Lashio for our safety. I feel proud of him and feel sad at the same time, as I don’t know what to do now without him,” said Aye Aye Win, a mother of two.
Others said they would anxiously wait out the fighting in Lashio.
“We are now so worried for them. When the conflict is over, I will urge my husband to quit the job or not return to the Kokang region ever again,” said Kyi Kyi Mar, the wife of a police sergeant who remains posted in Laukkai.
