Kyaw Thiha — This winter is chillier in Rakhine State compared to last year, leading to distress among IDPs who lack adequate shelter and protection. They are in urgent need of blankets and warm clothing.

Daw Yin Yin Than, an IDP from Sittwe Township currently residing in Ponnagyun Township, mentioned that the IDP camps are short on warm clothing and blankets. She highlighted that the most vulnerable, especially children and the elderly, are enduring the cold more severely.

“There are only three blankets for a family of five. Two individuals must share one. We have been facing this winter with insufficient blankets, and the cold persists each day,” she shared.

 Residents reported that since January, temperatures have been dropping in Rakhine. Particularly, those who have been displaced are thought to be at greater risk of the cold due to the lack of proper shelters, such as bamboo huts in rice fields, and they require blankets and warm clothing.

U Htun Htun Win, the leader of an IDP camp in Ponnagyun Township, remarked, “Our situation is tough, as we are away from our homes. We are currently living in huts made from tarpaulin and bamboo after being displaced. Our challenges have increased as we often have to shift locations due to the threat of airstrikes from the military’s aircraft. At this moment, the cold is intensifying, so we are in desperate need of more blankets and warm clothing. ”

Despite no reports of elderly IDPs losing their lives in Rakhine State this year due to cold conditions, there was a tragedy last year in 2024, where five individuals, including two elderly women and two children, perished from the cold in Ann Township.

Another woman from Rakhine, Daw Hla Thein Aye, expressed that she is enduring the winter in the camps without sufficient warm clothing and blankets, and is struggling to access food and medicine.

“It’s very challenging for us to find food and medicine since we do not reside in our own area. There are various skin ailments due to the lack of clean water. Furthermore, we need accessible hospitals and clinics,” she explained.

She added that the elderly, pregnant women, and children who have fled the conflict in Rakhine urgently need food, medicine, blankets, and warm clothes.

The 2025 report from the Humanitarian and Development Cooperation Office (HDCO) indicates that more than 600,000 people are displaced in the liberated regions of Rakhine as a result of ongoing violence.

Numerous displaced individuals are also fleeing their residences in Sittwe, Kyaukphyu, and Manaung townships, which remain under military oversight.