Rebuilding homes destroyed by fire in the Jeyang IDP camp, located within the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) headquarters area, face major obstacles.
According to a camp official “ I’ve been living in the IDP camp for over 10 years, so it’s already like my own home anyway. It’s not going to be easy to rebuild it because of lack of finance. He reported that March 19, a fire broke out in the Jeyang IDP camp, which has been in existence for over a decade, resulting in the destruction of 36 houses.”
As a result of the fire, 180 IDP people, around 20 children and 5 adults were affected by the fire.
Yesterday the fire broke out in the Jeyang IDP camp reportedly caused by faulty wiring, resulting in the destruction of 36 houses in just 15 minutes.
Currently these family members have been accommodated in the camp's primary and secondary schools.
However an official said that it is not yet known whether the houses will be rebuilt for them.
“I’m not sure about that yet, but last night the IDP camp committee called a meeting and discussed cleaning up the burnt area,” he said.
While there is currently food and temporary shelter available, urgent aid for rehabilitation is needed, a camp official told KNG.
“ We ran away without taking anything. We had nothing. Everything was destroyed in the fire, so we needed money. It’s not easy to get household goods, cats, and wardrobes back like before. We want to ask the KIO government and all the social assistance organizations to participate in whatever way we can,” he said.
The Jeyang IDP camp, which is situated within the KIO-controlled area, is the largest internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in the region, with over 1,500 houses. The section of the camp where the fire occurred, namely Section 6 (B), is home to more than 100 houses.