rakan State Chief Minister U Mra Aung has said that Arakanese nationals who were displaced by fighting between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army, will not be shifted without their consent.
He said: “We will not forcefully shift them.”
At present more than 200 displaced villagers are staying at Buddhist monasteries in the villages of Kyiyar Byin, Wrama Byint and Zaydi Daung.
On 18 January U Mra Aung visited the villages of Kyiyar Byin and Zaydi Daung to check on the displaced people.
He said: “When I visited those places [the monasteries], the monks argued that the villagers should not stay there any longer, but the displaced families prefer not to go back home immediately. The district administration office earlier permitted the families to live with their relatives for a while.”
Speaking to Narinjara News, U Mra Aung said that the government was looking for an alternative arrangements for the refugees.
Earlier a social worker from Kyiyar Byin alleged that district officials were asking the refugees to go stay with relatives, which was causing them to be worried about their future.
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
