Ma Ge Khar Ra, like many Kachin villagers, is on the run. Two months ago, the 35 year-old mother of two bundled her son and daughter and their meager belongings into a rented three wheeled car and fled from the gunfire and shelling which had encircled their village, Mai Sak , eastern Kachin State, since early June when renewed civil war broke out between the Burmese Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The residents of the village were advised by their headman to make a run for Laiza, a small town on the China border which is the headquarters of the KIA, two hours from the village by car.
“I am afraid to live in my village,” she told the Kachin News Group in a recent interview.
That’s because some IDPs have reported that some women have been raped by Burmese soldiers. Some men were forced to be porters, carrying army supplies and equipment for no wages. Some villagers were tortured. Others were put in bags, to be thrown into the water and drowned.
Ma Ge Khar Ra has her own reason to fear the government troops. “My husband is a KIA soldier,” she said.
She said she had to borrow money from a friend to pay for the trip to the relative safety of Laiza and has had to borrow money for food since.
"In my village I am a daily worker and earn 3,000 kyat per day. But, in Laiza I don't have income," she added.
“I cannot contact with my husband, who is busy with his duties in the war. So, I don't know what to do,” she said. However, she did inform KIA headquarters she and the children have arrived in Laiza.
Laiza is safer than the village, for now. However, the refugee camp style conditions are overcrowded and only provide for very basic living conditions.
“When we arrived to the IDP camp, we were assigned to a dormitory style building. Some refugees have to stay in Laiza's Manau grounds (similar to a stadium) because there are many IDPs. There are separate bathing places for men and women. Bathrooms and toilets are built for us but there are not enough of them. So, some have to go to the nearby stream to take baths. However, the situation here is better than nothing,” she said.
Life for the children has not been easy in Laiza either. They attend overcrowded schools because of the number of IDPs flooding into the town.
"My son is studying in 3rd standard. My daughter is studying in primary school," she said.
“My son told me it is difficult to write on the table (desk) in school because there are so many students. School teachers also told me school doesn’t have enough learning materials and desks because of the large number of children," she said.
The overcrowded conditions make it easy for disease and sickness to spread throughout the camp.
"Now I am sick with malaria-like symptoms. When I visited the clinic, the medics said it's not malaria. They didn’t tell me what kind of disease I have. They gave me some medicine and said I will recover if I take them," she said.
"Four have died in the camp in Laiza from diarrhea disease," she added.
KIA Officials have said nearly 9,000 IDPs are taking refuge in the Laiza area now.
"The number of refugees increases day by day. The reason is the war in Kachin State. Currently, refugees are suffering from malaria, diarrhea, allergies and so on," KIA officer, Wanday Sai Gyat Du, said in an interview.
Local NGOs provide medicines for IDPs and also send them to the local hospital, if possible.
"Sometimes, it’s really difficult to cook. So, my children cannot have breakfast before they go to school because the (drinking)water is delivered too late," Ma Gyi Khar Ra said.
“Many refugees, including me, suffer from stress and depression because we had to leave our homes, farms and animals. We are worried that there will be nothing to eat if we go back home.”
She added, "Some men from the camp secretly go to their farms and work in the fields. If they hear the sound of gun fire, they stop working and hide in the jungle.We are worried there will be nothing left if we return to home after the fighting is over. I don't exactly know when that will be.”
Some IDPs have been moved to Phonlon Yan Village, one hour away, because of the crowded conditions in Laiza. There, residents have to live in bamboo huts with plastic for a roof. The floor is made with bamboo and is about one foot off the ground.
"Most refugees are poor. Most of them are farmers. They don't have extra income. They brought some of their belongings when they came to the camp. Some refugees couldn't bring anything. So, we have to provide food and cooking utensils," Wanday Sai Gyat Du said.
"The KIO gives two cans of rice per day per IDP. The Kachin Women’s Organization also provides clothing. However, they still need other things," he added.
The fighting continues despite the government’s stating publically it wants to negotiate a new ceasefire agreement with the KIA. That means the IDPs have to continue to live like cattle herded into Laiza and nearby Phonlon Yan to avoid being caught in the crossfire and suffering human rights abuses at the hands of government troops.
One IDP, Gum Htan Burankum, put it this way.
“War is like a storm. Nobody knows when it will come or when it will end. So, I am so worried for the future.”
