IDPs told Narinjara News that the houses in Zay Di Taung East and Zay Di Taung West Camps in Rathedaung town of Rakhine State were damaged and need to be rebuilt as soon as possible.
Among the two camps, Zay Di Taung east camp has 201 dormitories, and it has not been repaired for about three years.
The person in charge of the camp said, "We have to rebuild the entire camp. It has not been repaired for three or four years. If we rebuild it, we have to rebuild everything. If the house is broken, the person is stuck in another family’s house.
The houses have been built a long ago. Everything has been broken. The floors have holes. The roofs are all rotting away and collapsing. We are living with many difficulties including a shortage of food.”
There is no safety for women as almost every house has been damaged according to a 40-year-old woman from the camp.
“The dormitories are difficult to live in. On the other hand, there is no security for women.All the shelters were destroyed and everything is bare. We are no longer in a position to fix it, so we have to rely on donors,” said the woman.
It is reported that there are more than 700 people, 201 dormitories and 209 households in the IDP camp east of Zay Di Taung.
Another IDP camp, Zay Di Taung West IDP Camp, has been completely destroyed and more than 10 houses are uninhabitable. Other dormitories are partially dilapidated, said a person in charge of the camp.
“There are a lot of damaged houses. There are more than 10 houses that have been completely destroyed and are no longer habitable. About 6 months ago, we were given 50 bamboos and 50 rolls of tarpaulin to rebuild. But it is not enough. It is very difficult to live and work. There is a financial crisis with no funds for repairs. But there is little income. Less than a third of IDPs has a job,” he said.
There are 618 people and 166 households in the western refugee camp.
The dormitories of these refugee camps are constructed using bamboo, thatch roofs and tarpaulins. They need to be renovated for long-term use. Now that winter has arrived, the elderly and children are sick as they feel the cold more because of the lack of shelter.
The IDPs said that because the people living in IDP camps have to use only water from the earthen ponds near the camp as drinking water, there are many cases of diarrhea and itchiness.
The refugees from these two camps are local residents who fled the war from the northern Rathedaung, due to the fighting between the Arakan Army and the
Myanmar military in 2018.Currently, the Arakan Army (AA) and the Myanmar military have a temporary ceasefire, but the military camps in the villages and nearby hills where they live, and the lack of mine clearance around the site of the battle, have made it impossible for the IDPs to return home.
