Residents of Kin Seik village in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township who were displaced by a recent artillery shelling are reportedly in need of humanitarian assistance.
The internally displaced people (IDPs) are currently sheltering at monasteries and their relatives’ homes in the town of Mrauk-U, where Wahzay Monastery is hosting the largest number of IDPs; some 700 in total.
Daily expenses to provide food to the IDPs amount to about K100,000, said U Waradhamma, the abbot of Wahzay Monastery, who told DMG that it would be difficult to feed such a large displaced population for an extended period of time.
“We are now solving the problem of food requirements with cash donations. I feel sorry because I cannot feed the IDPs sufficiently. We need cash assistance in the long run because military tension is running high for the time being,” the abbot added.
U Waradhamma said the monastery is in need of drinking water and has only two toilets.
“When the population of IDPs is large and the toilets are not enough, it is embarrassing and not suitable for their health. We may dig a new well for the drinking water,” the abbot told DMG.
“Wahzay Monastery hosts the largest number of IDPs and the abbot currently provides food for us,” said a community elder from Kin Seik village. “We face many difficulties because we have to share food.”
The IDPs are also living in cramped conditions in the monastery and an adjacent religious edifice. A Kin Seik villager said the security situation remains worrying, making the IDPs hesitant to return home.
“The junta troops deliberately fired artillery shells into the village without there being fighting near the village. We are worried and afraid because we know that it is no longer safe near the village, so we will not go back immediately,” he added.
Three residents of Kin Seik village died when the Myanmar military fired around 30 shells toward the village following a nearby skirmish with the Arakan Army on August 28, according to local residents. Five other civilians were also injured in the bombardment.
In total, an estimated 2,000 locals from Kin Seik, Lekka, Buywet Manhyo, Phayargyi, Pauktawpyin, Waithali and a handful of other villages were reportedly displaced by Sunday’s fighting.
