Civilians who were resettled a few years ago after fighting forced them to flee their homes and live in an internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp aren’t receiving the help they need to rebuild their lives in their new homes in Mansi Township.
“We assumed that we’d receive support for another three years, but it was the opposite. After we received our house, no one came to help us. We feel abandoned,” a male returnee told KNG.
They’ve land to farm but not the necessary equipment, he said.
Making matters worse, their village, Si Eu, isn’t connected to the electricity grid.
“We lost our home and everything we owned,” said another man who made the move. Although he’s grateful for the help moving to Si Eu, he says they need more farming machinery, tools and vehicles from the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) and the Kachin Independence Organisation so that the village can thrive.
They also need clean drinking water and sanitation, and of course education.
The Kachin Humanitarian Concern Committee, under the KBC, has built over 40 houses for more than 150 people who moved into the village in 2019.
Villagers from Mang Gao, Nam Ngun, Hpaga Kawng and Awng Nan fled fighting between the KIO’s military arm, the Kachin Independence Army and the Burma Army from 2016-2017, moving to an IDP camp in Mong Hkawng before moving to Si Eh when they could no longer return to their home villages.
