Around 3,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) sheltering in an IDP camp near to Taungoo City in Bago Region’s Taungoo Township are in urgent need of food and shelter.
In early May 2025, following fighting with resistance forces to the east of the Sittaung River in Taungoo Township, the junta burned down several villages, including including Kyauklonegyi, Letpaekone, Saparkywei, and Tawpu, causing thousands of residents to flee and seek shelter in an IDP camp on the west side of the Sittaung River, just outside Taungoo City.
Later, on 23 May, following fighting near to the villages of Saparkywei and Magyipininn, also to the east of the Sittaung River in Taungoo Township, the junta entered the two villages and burned down 700 houses there, causing more villagers to flee to the IDP camp near Taungoo City, according to local sources.
A volunteer assisting the IDPs said that they are in dire need of staple foods and cannot return to their homes because their villages have been destroyed and there is still ongoing fighting around them.
He said to KIC: “Fighting is still going on along the eastern bank of the Sittaung River. Right now, there are around 3,000 IDPs near Taungoo City. They’re surviving mostly on donor support, but they still need food. Many of them lost their homes in the fires and have nowhere to go. They’re living in makeshift huts. With suitable jobs so scarce, it's difficult to find ways to support their livelihoods.”
The IDPs are also struggling with their living conditions because, now that the rainy season has arrived, their makeshift huts are no longer providing them with adequate protection.
