Ponnagyun IDP camp in desperate need of food and medicine

By Admin 23 Jul 2025

DMG Newsroom

22 July 2025, Ponnagyun

The Ganantaung displacement camp, home to more than 1,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ponnagyun Township, Arakan State, is in urgent need of food and medical assistance, according to camp officials.

Those displaced are facing food shortages due to limited access to aid and the difficulty of finding food in the forests during the rainy season.

"We collected vegetables from the forest and cooked them with salt without any flour. I was sick and wanted to eat fish, but I couldn't because I didn't have money," said Daw Ngwe Ngwe Mu, an IDP woman from the Ganantaung displacement camp.

The IDPs rely on the forests and mountains to make ends meet by doing random work such as cutting firewood and collecting vegetables.

Amid the rainy season, IDPs are facing livelihood challenges as many are unable to cut firewood and collect vegetables due to the high water levels in the mountain streams. They say they are struggling to make ends meet, with few feasible sources of income and difficulties ranging from food insecurity to lack of healthcare.

"IDPs are also suffering from hunger. A household that used to eat five tins of rice is now cooking only three tins," said U Maung Ni Jar, manager of the displacement camp. "Some children are sick and need medicine, but they cannot afford to buy it. The children are starving. Right now, IDPs are in dire financial straits. IDPs have not received any assistance for 11 months."

Due to elevated mosquito breeding rates during the rainy season, there are also cases of malaria and dengue fever among IDP children and adults due to a lack of mosquito nets, and the fact that many have to sleep in open areas.

The Ganantaung displacement camp houses 1,094 people across 220 households from villages such as Kyauktanchay, Kyar Ma Thauk, Wahbo, Tawkan, Theintan and Yartan in Sittwe Township.

Ma Phyu Phyu Than, another IDP woman at the camp, said that those displaced are struggling to survive the acute food insecurity.

"We left home at 7 a.m. to cut firewood in the forest and only returned home at 2 p.m. We only got K7,500 (US$3.57) from selling 50 sticks of firewood. Our daily expenses were around K20,000, [so the earnings] were not enough. The entire camp is facing difficulties," she told DMG.

There are more than 600,000 IDPs in Arakan State, many of whom are still unable to return home due to Myanmar military airstrikes and other dangers posed by junta forces, including threat of landmines and unexploded ordnance.