Internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled fighting in Karenni State have experienced psychological damage and trauma over time, with children and women suffering the most organizations helping IDPs said.
An official of Karenni Displaced People Assistance Network “This type of trauma is more common in women and children.In general women's minds are more vulnerable
compared to men.Their are more deeply affected and hurt by shocking events, as victims of violence and bloodshed.
The Karenni Nurses Association, a group of nurses affiliated with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) providing mental health assistance to IDPs, told the Kantarawaddy Times that at least 50 percent of IDPs suffer from stress.
Even when IDPs were informed that they could return to Loikaw, some of the women said that they wouldn't go back, because they could not stand the sight of soldiers anymore. The degree of trauma is different for each person”, an official of Karenni Displaced People Assistance Network said.
Among the IDPs who have suffered from the covid-19 epidemic and war, the women are specially affected by the loss of their husbands and children, the destruction of their homes, and the economic crisis. They feel the pain and the stress even worse even more than men.
Women’s organizations, social groups, and IDP camp committee members visit the camps individually or in groups to encourage, comfort, nourish, and entertain, those who are suffering from stress.
The official of the Karenni Displaced People Assistance Network also suggested that these programs should be implemented in a more systematic way, because they provide some measure of relief to the IDPs.
“It reduces stress for them. Some IDPs have returned to eating and sleeping regularly. The main need is to heal their minds. If you can help their minds to become calm and clear, they will be full of spirit again”, he explained.
Nearly 200,000 IDPs who fled the armed conflicts in Karenni State after the coup, were unable to return home. At the same time skirmishes in the region continue almost every day.
When schools were closed due to the Military Council’s airstrikes and shelling, the IDP
children also became traumatized, an IDP woman commented.
“There is a sense of insecurity and stress. We are constantly worried about whether artillery rounds will hit us, or airplanes will drop bombs. In the past, children in our
camp were able to study peacefully. But after the school was shelled, it is no longer possible to continue studying. When the worst case again becomes a reality, we have to flee again”, she said.
Hearing the sound of doors slamming, and the sound of cars, which is a bit like the sound of artillery fire, some IDPs are suffering from extreme shock and panic, witnesses said.
