More than 3,400 displaced people from Lay Kay Kaw Town and eight nearby villages in the Falu Village Tract, Myawaddy Township, Karen State, have taken refuge near the Thaungyin (Moei) River along the Thailand-Myanmar border, living under the constant threat of airstrikes by the junta, according to aid workers assisting them.
Around Lay Kay Kaw, daily clashes between the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)-led resistance coalition and the junta have continued, with the junta employing airstrikes, artillery shelling, and suicide drones to target homes, schools, and monasteries between September 25 and October 3, fueling the fears of displaced residents, according to aid workers assisting them.
“Right now, the town and surrounding villages are empty because everyone has already evacuated. But the internally displaced people (IDPs) remain worried that the junta could launch airstrikes where they are now taking shelter. Those who fled from places like Lay Kay Kaw, Falu, and Minlatpan truly have nowhere else to go,” a local aid worker assisting the IDPs said.
The IDPs, numbering around 3,400, are currently sheltering near the Thaungyin River after being evacuated from Site 1 camp in Dooplaya District under the Karen National Union (KNU), Lay Kay Kaw Town, and eight nearby villages.
In recent days, the junta has heavily shelled Lay Kay Kaw Town with artillery, triggering panic among riverside IDPs, particularly children and the elderly.
“It’s been less than six months since we returned home after the fighting in Lay Kay Kaw and Hteemeiwahkhee had eased, and now we’re being forced to flee again because the fighting has started up once more. This time, the junta is destroying schools and clinics, which is putting children’s education and the health of the elderly at serious risk,” a Lay Kay Kaw IDP told KIC.
At present, donors, aid workers, and Karen civil society organizations are the only ones providing food, shelter, and healthcare to over 3,400 IDPs. However, these groups are still unable to provide effective support for the IDPs’ safety or construct bomb shelters.
