Almost 500 residents of Myeik Wa Village in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, who have returned to their village after taking refuge in neighbouring India’s Mizoram state, are reportedly suffering from hardships.
They fled into India due to fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) in August of last year. They returned voluntarily around the end of February as they were jobless, did not receive relief supplies from donors, and could not send their children to school.
A Myeik Wa resident who was among the returnees said: “We returned in separate groups by any means of transport. Some sailed back with bamboo rafts made by themselves. And we have repaired our damaged houses with the money we had.”
About 460 people from 92 households have returned to Myeik Wa Village, but they returned to find that the paddy fields they sowed during the most recent rainy season had gone bad.
Furthermore, most dare not go into the surrounding forest to forage out of fear of landmines.
However, some residents do risk their lives to gather firewood, bamboo, vegetables and other forest products, seeing no other viable means of livelihood and so, ultimately, for their own survival.
A community elder from Myeik Wa Village said they had reported to junta authorities in Paletwa town about their hardships.
“[Junta authorities] provide cash for [some] displaced people taking shelter in Paletwa town when they returned to their villages. But we got nothing. And life is harder as we have no jobs. We are struggling even to feed ourselves,” he said.
Fierce clashes took place between the Myanmar military and the AA near the village of Myeik Wa in August 2022. Some 700 people from 135 households fled junta air raids into India.
They have been taking refuge in a number of villages in Mizoram, and while approximately 460 of them have returned so far, more than 200 people from 43 households remain in Mizoram for various reasons.
Displaced people taking shelter in Mizoram do not receive relief supplies from donors and they are making a living by collecting firewood and bamboo, said U Ye Phyu, who is taking shelter in Tet Paung Che Village, Mizoram.
“We still don’t know if we should return to our village or settle here. We are safe here, but it is not OK to work here, partly because of language barriers,” he said.
It has been more than three months since the Myanmar military and the AA observed an informal ceasefire on November 26. Since then, more than 5,000 displaced villagers have returned to their homes in Arakan State and neighbouring Paletwa Township, at the arrangement of Myanmar’s military regime.
