Arakan State’s new IDPs since August reach almost 9,000, says UNOCHA Myanmar

By DMG 28 Sep 2022

DMG Newsroom
28 September 2022, Sittwe

Some 300 residents of Buthidaung Township fled their village on September 23 due to mortar fire and the presence of Myanmar military troops, bringing the total number of new internally displaced people (IDPs) since August in Arakan State to nearly 9,000, UNOCHA Myanmar said in a statement on September 27.

An informal ceasefire reached between Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army ahead of the country’s November 2020 general election effectively broke down in July of this year, and the number of displaced people in Arakan State is on the rise significantly due to ongoing fighting.

Myanmar’s military regime has barred local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) from travelling to multiple townships in Arakan State following the renewed fighting between junta troops and the Arakan Army over recent weeks.

“On 15 September, the de facto authorities told humanitarian agencies to suspend assistance and programmes in six townships in Rakhine [Arakan] State. Advocacy efforts continue for safe and unimpeded passage of humanitarian actors and assistance,” UNOCHA Myanmar said on September 20.

“Restrictions on movement of people and additional interference in humanitarian activities, including expanded checkpoints and roadblocks, have further compounded the already difficult living conditions for affected and displaced people across the state,” UNOCHA Myanmar said subsequently, on September 27.

“We left home because we were worried about our safety amid ongoing fighting. We face various hardships due to lack of sufficient support. I don’t know how to earn a living without relief items,” said a woman at an IDP camp in Rathedaung Township.

At least 1,000 residents from Nagara and Yokethar villages in Kyauktaw Township were displaced by artillery shells fired by the Myanmar regime’s 9th Military Operations Command on September 28.

“The villagers have fled to safer locations in fear following the junta shelling. We are facing many difficulties. No one remained in the village,” said a resident of Yokethar Village.

There were also seven clashes between the military and Arakan Army in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, and 30 clashes in Arakan State from August 13 to September 23. The Myanmar military lost nine military camps to the AA in the approximately two weeks from August 25 to September 10, according to a statement released by Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica.