Thousands of residents from Lay Kay Kaw Town and nearby villages in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township, displaced by escalating military tensions, are now in urgent need of food and shelter, aid workers helping these internally displaced people (IDPs) said.
The likelihood of junta forces advancing on Lay Kay Kaw is increasing, while the heightened risk of airstrikes has forced residents to evacuate.
Currently, the Palawtapo IDP camp, situated on the banks of the Thaungyin (Moei) River south of Myawaddy Town, is sheltering more than 140 families who fled Lay Kay Kaw and nearby Hteemeiwahkhee Village.
“Right now, what we really need most are food and shelter. The camp is basically just an open field now, as the temporary tents built during the previous displacement have already been taken down. We also need building materials so we can put up toilets,” said Ko Zaw Tun, vice chairman of the Dictatorship Revolution and People’s Defence Network (DRPDN).
Camp officials are currently doing their best to assist the IDPs and are working to secure additional aid.
“We’re doing everything we can here at the camp, but the needs are still huge. Now we’ve got to rebuild everything in the middle of the rainy season, so we really need a lot of materials,” a camp official told KIC.
The junta is deploying overwhelming force to control not just the stretch of Asia Highway 1 (AH1) between Myawaddy and Kawkareik, but the entire road. At present, junta troops are mainly active along the routes linking Lay Kay Kaw, Thaybawboe, and Wawlay towns, with aircraft frequently flying over these areas. On the morning of September 8, junta warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs on Yathaytgu Village, near Lay Kay Kaw Town.
As military tensions escalate, locals from Myawaddy Township villages of Mehtawthalay, Ingyinmyaing, Falu, Hteemeiwahkhee, Baehikalaw, Yathaytgu, and Minlatpan have fled to the Thaungyin River along the Thailand–Myanmar border seeking refuge.
In late 2024, resistance coalition forces seized the junta’s Sweitawkone artillery base near Lay Kay Kaw, making the town a junta-free zone. Once the fighting subsided, IDPs returned, but are now forced to flee again.
