Internally displaced people (IDPs)—ethnic Chin—who have sought refuge in Ann town in Rakhine State are in need of emergency aid, according to local sources.
There are a total of 1,534 people in the town’s two IDP camps, the majority of whom are Chin, Salai Issac Khin, the chair of the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee for Chin IDPs (RRCCI), told Khonumthung.
In addition to those in camps, some 3,000 Chin people are staying in relatives’ homes in Ann.
“These IDPs need food and shelter. They also need health assistance and their children need education,” he said.
While the government provides aid to IDPs in Ann’s camps, those outside of the camps must fend for themselves and rely on local support. The reason they are staying elsewhere is because of the lack of space in the existing camps, the RRCCI chair explained.
“The government doesn’t take responsibility for IDPs who live outside of the two IDP camps. Local civil society and religious organizations are providing assistance to these people,” Salai Issac Khin said. “We need a new IDP camp. We’ve talked about it to the government.”
The IDPs in Ann town are from more than 40 villages in the Derlet village tract. They fled to the town to escape clashes between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army and Burma Army blocks on roads and waterways around their area, which left them without sufficient food in their communities.
On July 19, the RRCCI, Ann-based Chin civil society organizations and Chin University Students in Rakhine state (CUSR) have provided 100 bags of rice to the IDPs in Ann town staying outside of the two IDP camps.
