Displaced people (IDPs) across Arakan (Rakhine) State are facing livelihood struggles due to a severe shortage of jobs during the current rainy season.
Though there has long been a shortage of jobs in war-torn Arakan State, until now, people have been able to rely on intermittent, strenuous day labour work. However, because of flooding during the rainy season such job opportunities have become even scarcer.
The Arakan Army’s (AA’s) Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office (HDCO), the branch of the AA that deals with humanitarian support and development, said that there are about 600,000 IDPs in areas controlled by the AA.
Due to a lack of aid many IDPs in Arakan State have to rely on day labour work to earn money for food and to supplement that with foraging for wild vegetables in the forests, cutting and selling firewood, fishing, and other ways to feed themselves and survive.
But, with the start of the rainy season the IDPs already difficult lives have become even harder as jobs have become more scarce and some IDP camps have suffered flooding.
Many IDPs have ended up begging due to the lack of job opportunities.
An IDP camp official from Mruak-U Township said: “Life is getting really tough. Some families have no choice but to start begging. Young men can still find manual labor work here and there, though it’s becoming harder to come by. But it’s even more difficult for girls. Some women are moving to other townships, ending up begging to get by.”
Daw Than Than, an IDP camp resident in Mrauk-U Township explained: “Some families without a breadwinner have ended up begging. Most people are just doing whatever they can to scrape by. With all the flooding, we can’t even go into the forests anymore, and that’s made it even harder to find food.”
She added that because heavy rain has triggered flooding in five townships in Arakan State many IDPs in the state no longer have a sufficient income and are being forced to survive on small quantities of vegetables that they can grow themselves as they can barely afford to buy meat or fish.
U Oo San Maung, an IDP from Ponnagyun Township said: “I’ve been looking for work in many villages. Some places are hiring workers for plantations, and in others, you have to carry heavy stones, and it’s really exhausting. These jobs are really tough, but only about 5,000 MMK can be earned for a full day. I want to work as much as I can because I don’t want my children to go hungry.”
The AA launched its offensive in Arakan State in November 2023, when the ceasefire it had signed with the junta collapsed. Since then the junta has caused shortages in Arakan State by blockading all land and river routes into and within Arakan State that it still controls. It has also cut off communication lines to Arakan State. Now, the AA controls nearly all of Arakan State.
International and local humanitarian organisations have been unable to access Arakan IDPs to provide them with any aid, which has worsened the IDPs already dire situation.
The fighting has also led to many Arakan State businesses having to close which has led to widespread job losses and a reduction in income opportunities for IDPs in the region.
