About 6,000 villagers who were forcibly evicted from their homes in Hsihseng Township, southern Shan State, by the Pa-O National Organisation (PNO), a junta-aligned ethnic armed organisation (EAO), are facing severe hardship.
The PNO initially ordered all the residents of Nawngkyaw and Taungshey village tracts to leave their homes by 15 June 2025, before extending the deadline to 30 June, after residents requested an extension so that they could complete agricultural work. No reason was given for the PNO’s eviction order.
6,000 villagers from Nawngkyaw and Taungshey village tracts have now fled their homes and are now sheltering in Hsihseng Township in three areas, in Hpayarhpyu Village; in Sakhawkhun Village on vacant land near a corn warehouse on the outskirts of Hsihseng Town; and near Mwedaw Pagoda in Mwedaw Village.
The displaced people (IDPs) are currently struggling because they do not have adequate shelters, according to a Hsihseng Township resident who is helping them.
He said: “The displaced people aren’t all in one place. A few who can afford it are renting houses, but most are staying in temporary shelters we’ve built. The shelters near Hsihseng Town are already full. There isn’t enough accommodation.”
He added that because it is the rainy season it is even more challenging to provide the IDPs with adequate shelter and enough food.
He said: "Since it’s the rainy season, transportation has become a lot more difficult, and building shelters is even harder now. Many of the shelters aren’t rainproof, and people really need mosquito nets. Some displaced families are still stuck halfway to their destination because the roads are damaged. And food is also urgently needed for them.”
Some of the IDPs have also had to be hospitalised after contracting diarrhoea, malaria and typhoid.
There are many women, children and elderly people amongst the IDPs and they are all having to live together in close quarters, according to a displaced woman.
She said: “There are many women and children among the displaced people. Right now, everyone is living mixed together, so it’s causing some inconveniences. We were forced to leave our home villages without any clear reason. We don’t know why we were evicted, whether it’s because fighting might break out, or if the PNO is worried that People’s Defence Force (PDF) members are hiding amongst us.”
Most of the villagers from the evicted villages rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. As it is the planting season some men have remained in the villages to plant and tend their crops.
Another displaced villager said: “A few guys stayed behind on their farms, but others abandoned theirs and fled. When the PNO gave the eviction order, everyone left their work and ran away. We were all scared that if we stayed after the eviction, we might be arbitrarily shot.”
The villages forcibly evicted by the PNO are from Tapuhto, Kawnghto, Lwengun, Nawngbo, and Pinset villages in Nawngkyaw Village Tract, Kalaban Village and the six villages of Nawnghtaung 1 to 6 in Taungshey Village.
