Displaced residents of Pekon Township in southern Shan State, near the Karenni State border, have been returning home since early August, but face numerous challenges, including the destruction of their houses by junta troops.

Since late 2024, fighting in Mobye Town, Pekon Township, has forced residents from the town and nearby villages to flee. Now, as they begin to return, some find their homes reduced to ashes.

“Some people are now homeless because their houses were completely destroyed. At least 50 families lost their homes to arson and urgently need help,” a returnee said.

According to the Pekon Shan Youth Network, junta troops burned 27 houses in Nargon Village, Narhee Village Tract, Pekon Township, and about 30 houses in Hsantswea Village, Bantpyin Village Tract, Nyaungshwe Township, southern Shan State. The attacks displaced an estimated 200 people.

Junta troops and allied militia members from the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), advancing from the Pekon Lake side on July 26, burned down the villages, a displaced Pekon Township resident who recently returned and found his house destroyed said.

“The junta burned down our house based on its claim that People’s Defence Force (PDF) members were hiding in our villages while we were displaced,” he told Shan Herald.

Residents from Pekon Township villages including Loipaw, Nampawlon, Lahei, Mahkayhkam, Peinhnekone, Narhee, Narkone, Nyaungmun, Taungpoetgyi, Sinhpyu, and Ngarmu, as well as from villages of Hsantswea, Hsantlate, Loilong, and Taungpoetkwe in neighboring Nyaungshwe Township, totaling around 10,000 people, were displaced but have now returned to their homes.

Although they have returned home, they still need a lot of help with resettlement, an aid worker assisting them said.

“Right now, they really need food and shelter first. There’s also a big need for materials to rebuild their homes,” he noted.

Since the junta’s 2021 coup, Myanmar has been plunged into political turmoil, struggling with a deteriorating economy, rising prices, and inflation. A returnee said that building a simple 14'x8' hut with metal roofing and thatch walls now costs around MMK 6 million.

Mobye was previously held by Karenni resistance forces, but the junta regained control of the town on July 7 after a six-month offensive. On July 12, the junta reopened the Loikaw-Pekon-Mobye-Pinlaung Highway, a vital route linking southern Shan State with Karenni State.