Displaced young people in Tanai, Kachin State are in urgent need of school supplies so they can continue their education, according to a relief organization.
There are around 200 students among the approximately 875 people taking refuge in Tanai after military action by Tatmadaw troops in the nearby area.
Spokesperson for the Committee for Assisting Internally Displaced People in Tanai U Naung Taung said that the students are in immediate need of materials such as exercise books, textbooks and school uniforms.
“The Department of Education told us that [these] students have been temporarily registered [here],” U Naung Taung said.
“Students attending the schools this academic year have been divided into two separate lists of regular students and temporary students.”
These temporary students have reportedly been enrolled in a post-elementary school in Du Kawang Village, a middle school in Gin Khar Ra Village and a high school in Tanai.
U Naung Taung urged the government, ethnic armed groups and donors to provide assistance to the young people.
The approximately 875 internally displaced people are taking shelter in township churches including the Kachin Baptist Convention Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the AG Church and the Anglican Church.
School supplies are just one challenge facing the hundreds of internally displaced persons who are currently in Tanai.
There are also reports of rising commodity prices and restrictions on the transportation of food and fuel.
“There are people who want to donate rice and cooking oil but they aren’t allowed to transport these here,” one resident said.
“People from Yangon want to donate between 400 and 500 bags of rice. They are now negotiating with the [Kachin] state government. Rice prices are rising so [a bag of] rice costs between K40,000 and K50,000. Petrol costs over K4,000 per gallon.”
Network Media Group was unable to contact the Tanai Township General Administrative Office to discuss these restrictions.
