More than 1,000 people are in urgent need of food assistance after they fled Yane Village Tract in Ywangan Township, southern Shan State, when junta troops burned down their homes.
More than 500 internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled Minpalaung Village in Ywangan Township in December 2024 after junta troops burned their homes are still unable to return more than a year later.
Similarly, on August 18, junta aircraft bombed Kyauktaw and Nyaungpinthar villages, and ground troops burned homes, forcing around 600 residents to flee.
The Ywangan Township IDPs, now over 1,000 in total, are facing worsening food shortages and a livelihood crisis as their displacement continues. They want to forage in the forest to earn an income but are too afraid of encountering junta patrols, a woman helping those displaced said.
“The IDPs are spread out across different areas, and it’s really hard for them to find work to earn a living. They want to go into the forest to forage, but no one dares because they’re afraid of running into soldiers. Their rice supplies are very low, and the number of days they have to survive on just porridge keeps increasing. Some people are already suffering from malnutrition. Our team is doing everything we can to provide them with the best possible assistance,” she told Shan Herald.
Among the IDPs, many are elderly or children, while some working-age men and women must travel long distances to find work to support their families.
In addition to food shortages, winter in Ywangan brings harsh cold, so the IDPs urgently need warm clothing, blankets, and shelters. Some elderly IDPs have even died due to the severe weather.
“It’s really cold here in Ywangan. Most of the IDPs are taking shelter in the forest, which makes it even tougher. Many of them fled with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They desperately need warm clothes and blankets, and sadly, some elderly IDPs have already died from the cold,” said the aforementioned woman.
Currently, junta troops are deployed in several rural areas of Ywangan Township, searching for resistance forces.
On September 23, a junta column moving through the forests north of Ywangan Township discovered two families from Kyauktaw Village hiding in a cave and took them away. There has been no news of them since.
