Khaing Roe La — As displaced populations have increased in recent months at refugee camps in Arakan State’s Rathedaung town, providing adequate shelter for the swell of IDPs has been a challenge, according to volunteers assisting them.

 

Recent clashes between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army (AA) have forced thousands of people from dozens of villages in the northern part of Rathedaung Township to flee their homes for the relative safety of IDP camps set up in Rathedaung town’s monasteries.

 

“We set up the space for them [IDPs] with tarpaulin. But we don’t have enough tarpaulin to provide for all of them. So some of them have to sleep just on the ground, without any sheet,” volunteer Ko Kyaw Min Khaing told DMG.

 

Another camp volunteer, U Aung Soe Mya, said that about 100 out of 250 IDPs from Aung Myaykhone and Bawdi Kyone villages who are now sheltering at Paripati Sipintharyar Monastery did not have any sheet to sleep on.

(Photo - Mayu Tun)

“They built small ‘houses’ using thick packing paper for a roof and walls. They don’t have anything to sleep on,” he said.

 

IDPs are receiving humanitarian aid from charity organisations in Rathedaung town but the ability of the local groups to meet the needs of the camps has been put under increasing strain as more IDPs have arrived.

 

“The elders and children suffer stomach aches and feel sick because they have to sleep on the ground without any sheet,” U Aung Soe Mya said.

 

Across Arakan State, the number of IDPs has surpassed 100,000 as the conflict between Tatmadaw and AA forces continues to upend lives. The displaced have struggled to meet basic needs ranging from food and shelter to healthcare and clothing.