Volunteers helping conflict-affected villagers in Karenni State have only one month’s worth of food left to feed over 6,000 displaced people in western Hpruso Township.
”The rations we have aren’t enough to feed the increasing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs),” a member of a relief committee in the township told Kantarawaddy Times. They live in remote areas with poor roads, making it challenging to resupply the camps, he explained. Each family has received a basket of rice and dried food, but this isn’t enough for some.
One woman said the junta forces are preventing them from taking care of the IDPs by stopping them and confiscating the medicine when they try to bring aid to the camps. ”Currently, the Burma Army has blocked all roads in Karenni State.” She says soldiers won’t allow anyone to transport more than 20 bags of rice at a time. It’s cold and the IDPs also need warm clothing, she says. They also have no access to water where they’re housed and they need it pumped into the camps.
Of the state’s 300,000 inhabitants, over 170,000 have been affected by the regime’s offensives and fighting with Karenni resistance groups.