Loikaw, February (15)
Following the military coup and intense fighting, displaced people in Kayah State are facing increasing food shortages, the aid workers told Than Lwin Times.
The IDPs have stored agricultural products grown last year, but the current increase in the number of IDPs could lead to food shortages, and it is likely that all food supplies will run out before summer arrives.
Most of the IDP camps in Kayah State have not had enough food or medicine since June of last year, and several IDP camps are suffering food and water shortages.
Currently, because the military council is using the four-cut strategy in Kayah State, the displaced people are facing a more difficult situation, an official from an IDP camp in western Demoso told Than Lwin Times.
In addition, when requesting a transport permit from the military council, the goods cannot be said to be for the IDP camp, but to be sold, and people who deliver food supplies to the camps may have been arrested or imprisoned.
Since the coup, the military council has been firing heavy weapons at IDP camps, causing anxiety among the displaced, according to U Banya, chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Karenni State Consultative Council (KSCC).
In Kayah State, there are more than 200,000 people who have fled the conflict between the military council and the defense forces, and most of them are residents of Demoso, Hpruso, Hpasawng, Mae Se, Bawlakhe, Shadaw and Moebye, and Hpekon of southern Shan State.
Because the military council allows humanitarian aid to be sent only to and around Loikdaw, it is difficult for international aid to reach the IDP camps that really need it.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) said that the military council’s restrictions have made it difficult to get food and medical supplies to refugee camps throughout Myanmar.
News-Than Lwin Times