More than 1,300 displaced people in Ann Twsp return home

By DMG 29 Mar 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 March 2022, Ann

Nearly 1,400 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ann Township, Arakan State, who fled past fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA), returned to their homes on March 29 at the behest of the Arakan State Administration Council.

With hostilities between the two previously warring sides having largely ceased for more than a year and regional stability prevailing, tens of thousands of IDPs in Arakan State have returned to their homes since late 2020, the Ann Township contingent being among the latest. The Ann returnees are from more than 20 villages, including Ywa Haung and Laung Eain Su in Dar Let village-tract.

The Arakan State Administration Council provided K500,000 to the 1,381 returnees, and the Department of Disaster Management supplied household items such as clothes and utensils, said U Than Cho, manager of No. 1 IDP camp.

Ko Myo Lwin, a local activist in Ann Township, said there was a landmine risk due to previous heavy fighting near some of the villages where the displaced people have now returned.

“We are concerned about the risk to the displaced people’s lives as the landmines have not been cleared near the farmlands. Another [concern] is that the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military have not negotiated and signed a definitive ceasefire, so we are concerned that refugees could become hostages in the event of fighting at any time,” he added.

The Myanmar military and Arakan Army reached an informal ceasefire agreement in November 2020, after some two years of deadly and devastating conflict in Arakan State and neighbouring Chin State.