Following junta pressure, displaced people (IDPs) from Loikaw Township in Karenni State who are sheltering in Shan State’s Nyaungshwe Town have reluctantly started returning home, despite having misgivings about their security.
Around 8,000 people fled from Loikaw Township to Nyaungshwe Town after Karenni resistance forces launched Operation 1111 to take Loikaw Town, the Karenni State capital, on 11 November 2023.
In February 2025, junta-appointed ward administrators in Nyaungshwe Township met with IDPs from Loikaw Township and put pressure on them to return home. As a result some IDPs reluctantly started moving back to Loikaw Township in March 2025.
A displaced woman originally from Loikaw Township who is still sheltering in Nyaungshwe Town said to Shan Herald: “Currently, those who had been sheltering in monasteries in Nyaungshwe have begun to return. They couldn’t afford to rent houses. The fighting in Loikaw [Township] has not completely subsided and the IDPs are returning with a sense of lingering anxiety.”
She also explained that other IDPs are not willing to leave Nyaungshwe Town saying: “[Some] IDPs are staying put despite pressure from the junta authorities to return. Some are considering renting houses, despite their financial struggles. It is unclear how the situation will unfold. There are also IDPs from Demoso Township in Nyaungshwe [Town]. Even if they go back, they will have no homes to return to, as all have been destroyed.”
She added that there were other IDPs sheltering in Nyaungshwe Town who are willing to take the risk and return to Loikaw Township but who could not afford the journey home and had no option but to remain in the IDP camp in Nyaungshwe Town.
In Loikaw Town the junta has prohibited people from returning to certain wards, so some of the returned residents are having to temporarily stay in monasteries in the town, according to a woman who has recently returned.
She said: “There are still some wards and surrounding villages that the junta has designated as off-limits for resettlement, likely because demining efforts have not been completed. These areas were heavily affected by fighting. For now, locals from these settlements are living in temporary tents set up in monasteries in Loikaw. Thieves have already stolen all their belongings while their homes were abandoned during displacement, so they will have to start from scratch, and rebuilding will be very difficult.”
The IDPs who remain in Nyaungshwe Town are facing further difficulties as they are no longer receiving any support from donors.
