Khin Tharaphy Oo — Some temporary shelters at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sa Nyin village, part of Arakan State’s Myebon Township, were reportedly destroyed by a military contingent on January 25, according to officials from the camp.

According to U Arrakha, a monk who is one of those officials, a 200-strong Tatmadaw column entered the village firing guns into the air late in the evening, then destroyed some shelters at the camp and told the IDPs to dismantle the rest of the refugee encampment and disperse.

“They entered the camp and asked whose permission we had to live here. They said they do not want to see us anymore and ordered us to leave before the next morning,” U Arrakha told DMG.

Tarpaulin sheets and several temporary shelters at the camp were destroyed and an “Arakanese Monks Association” vinyl signboard was also taken down.

DMG phoned Colonel Win Zaw Oo, head of the Tatmadaw’s Western Command, but he could not be reached for comment regarding the matter.

Camp officials said there were IDPs who fled to nearby villages from the Sa Nyin camp after being pressured by the Tatmadaw.

Myebon Township’s Pyithu Hluttaw lawmaker U Pe Than lamented the apparent clearing of the camp at Sa Nyin, both for those immediately affected and its potential implications for other displaced populations, saying similar actions in future would negatively impact peace and stability in Arakan State.

“Refugees are those who have fled the fighting. They are not the enemies of the Tatmadaw,” said U Pe Than.

More than 300 IDPs from Ingyin, Hin Kha Yaw and Lay Thwin villages had been sheltering at the Sa Nyin camp due to clashes between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army (AA) in Myebon Township.

Sa Nyin IDP camp was jointly set up and managed by the Myatazaung Foundation from Mrauk-U town and the Arakanese Monks Association.