In the first week of September, the junta issued a statement saying that all internally displaced people (IDP) camps in northern Shan State must close by the end of October and that the IDPs should leave, according to news sources.

“In the first week of September, we received instructions from the Military Council saying that we have to completely move to another place or return home by the end of October”, said a member of an IDP Committee at an IDP camp in northern Shan State (each camp has an IDP Committee of IDPs to help IDPs liaise with camp management).

A displaced woman in an IDP camp in Namtu said: “If we have to go back to our place, it is not safe for us because of fighting. We came here [to the IDP camp] because of fighting. Firstly, I don’t want to go back to our residence, so we will have to relocate to another safe place with all the IDPs. Secondly, it's not convenient to move during this short time that the school is currently open.”

According to a local news agency based in Northern Shan State, over 15,000 IDPs are taking shelter in 26 IDP camps in the northern Shan townships of: Kutkai, Namhkan, Namtu, Manton, Lashio and Theinni.

Since 2012, in northern Shan State there have been frequent clashes between the Myanmar Army and ethnic arms organizations such as the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP) and the Arakan Army (AA).

Over the years the fighting has displaced residents in the townships of Theinni, Kutkai, Muse, Namkhan, Lashio, Hsipaw, Kyaukme, Manton, Namhsan and Momeik.