Around 20,000 displaced people (IDPs) who fled from Gwa Town to rural areas of Gwa Township in Arakan (Rakhine) State need urgent assistance and face shortages of medicine and food.
An aid worker helping people displaced from Gwa Town to Gwa Township said: “Right now, the IDPs in Gwa Township still can't go back to their homes. They're taking shelter in rural areas. There aren’t many civil society organisations around to support them, but a few groups are trying to help by collecting donations. On top of that, prices in Gwa are really high, which is making things even harder for the IDPs.”
Currently, in Gwa Township, Arakan State’s southernmost township, a 20-pyi (about 40 kg ) bag of rice is around 100,000 MMK, while a five-gallon (about 22.7 litres) can of cooking oil costs up to 230,000 MMK. These prices are nearly double those in northern Arakan State.
Fishing, the biggest industry in Gwa Township, has also been disrupted by the junta, making it even harder for residents and IDPs in the township to earn money.
The junta has many naval ships patrolling offshore from Gwa Township which has restricted fishing because fishermen are scared of being intercepted or picked up by a junta naval vessel. Fishing boats no longer go far out to sea because of the risk of encountering a junta vessel. Instead, they stay close to shore and fish part-time, only going out to fish at times they believe they will be safe and not encounter the junta navy.
A resident of Gwa Township said: “Currently, commercial large-scale fishing isn’t possible. The trawlers can’t go out to sea to catch fish. People here are mostly just fishing part-time close to the shore to get by, but that’s really not enough. On top of that, with prices so high, the money they make from fishing often isn’t enough to cover their needs.”
The Arakan Army AA launched an offensive to take Gwa Township on 9 August 2024 before launching an offensive against Gwa Town in November 2024. This led to fighting in Gwa Town, which along with rising incidents of inter-communal violence between ethnic Rakhines and Rohingyas and water shortages in the town caused most of Gwa Town’s population to flee Gwa Town.
Though the AA took full control of Gwa Town and Gwa Township on 29 December 2024, residents are still too scared to return to Gwa Town as there is still inter-communal violence and a shortage of water in the town. Ongoing fighting in Gwa Township has also prevented IDPs from returning to Gwa Town.
After taking control of Gwa Township the AA has started moving into neighbouring Ayeyarwady Region and continued with its offensives there.
