Bayan Shaung, officer at the PaLaNa IDP camp in Myitkyina Township said: “There were hardly any discussions about the IDP affairs in the last parliament. Although MP Daw Jar Hsai Khaung from Ingyanyan Township sometimes submitted a few questions about the IDPs affairs in parliament, there was no effective action. Some MPs said the IDPs should not even take shelter at the IDP camps.”

The fighting between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin armed organizations, which started in 2011, has displaced more than 100,000 people in Kachin State.

Tan Gon, the officer in-charge of Robert IDP camp in Bhamo Township in Kachin State was also highly critical of parliamentary neglect of IDP issues said: “MPs did have any debates about the IDP affairs in parliament”.

There are 53 lawmakers in Kachin State parliament in the five-year tenure of parliament from 2015 to 2020—40 elected candidates and 13 military MPs.

Daw Khaung Nan, an IDP from Chiphwe IDP camp said: “We cast our votes in the hope that parliament with deal effectively with the IDP affairs. Yet we have not heard of any discussions on IDP affairs, even when the five-year tenure of parliament came to an end.”

At present, the government, the Kachin CSOs and the Kachin Humanitarian Concern Committee (KHCC) are working on the return of the IDPs. The IDPs from some villages are returning to their home. Many villages are unable to go home due to the military conditions.

The IDPs are preparing to go home as they have been living at the IDP camps for a decade. The IDPs are hoping the new government will effectively carry out the return of all IDPs.