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Displaced for a Decade, many Muslims in Arakan State remain on fringes of society
Many Muslims have been taking refuge at various displacement camps in Sittwe, Pauktaw, Myebon and Kyaukphyu townships for more than a decade due to intercommunal conflicts that broke out in Arakan State in 2012.
20 Jan 2023
DMG Newsroom
20 January 2023, Sittwe
Many Muslims have been taking refuge at various displacement camps in Sittwe, Pauktaw, Myebon and Kyaukphyu townships for more than a decade due to intercommunal conflicts that broke out in Arakan State in 2012.
Some of the displacement camps in Sittwe Township are regularly receiving food aid from international organisations, but as the population in Muslim IDP camps increases, living conditions are becoming more difficult for families, and IDPs want authorities to build more shelters.
There are 12 Muslim IDP camps in Sittwe Township, and across Arakan State an estimated 150,000 Muslims are internally displaced.
Ten years after the violence between Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists in Arakan State, relations between the two communities are improving and some Muslims are returning to work in urban areas.
But Muslims’ movements remain restricted and so, risking arrest and prosecution on immigration charges with potential imprisonment of up to five years, Muslims in Arakan State continue to attempt to leave the state to work elsewhere in the country or abroad.