Landowners are demanding rent from displaced people (IDPs) sheltering at sites where waste soil from gold mining is dumped in Pinmakhaw Village, Homalin Township, Sagaing Region.
The aforementioned IDPs said that they are already struggling to earn livelihoods and find accommodation and that these rent demands are making their situation even more dire.
They are living in makeshift shelters at sites near the Uyu River where soil left over from gold mining is dumped.
They have fled from villages along the Homalin to Shwebo Road in Homalin Township because of fighting between the junta-aligned Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA) and local people's defence forces (PDFs). They include the villages of Paukpin, Nansakar, Naungpoaung, Hlwasinkone, and Narmaw.
The IDPs had been sheltering at the gold mine waste site for free for months. But, since the beginning of 2025, landowners have begun demanding rent which is exacerbating the IDPs already precarious situation.
An IDP from Hlwasinkone Village currently sheltering in Pinmakhaw Village said to the Voice of Shan-Ni: “We are only here because of the troubles in our home villages. Our family runs a small shop in the evenings, selling snacks—it's not much. Now, we've been told we have to pay 50,000 MMK in rent every month.”
Until recently, IDPs in Homalin Township were receiving aid from the World food Programme (WFP) but in recent months all aid to them has stopped.
An IDP from Nansakar Village currently sheltering in Pinmakhaw Village said: “Of course, it’s very difficult for us. We have no money, so we can’t buy food. I just talked with my husband about what we’ll do when the small amount of donated rice runs out, but we haven’t found a solution. Now, we have to start paying 40,000 to 50,000 MMK per month in rent, which is very hard for people like us who have no steady income. We’re relying on uncertain day labour jobs just to survive.”
The IDPs in Pinmakhaw Village are also struggling with contaminated drinking water and being unable to earn a living. They say that, at present, returning to their villages is not an option.
