After facing mounting pressure, both domestically and internationally to allow humanitarian aid to displaced Kachins and Shan affected by the ongoing conflict in northern Shan and Kachin states the Myanmar government has finally relented granting the UN and other international aid groups access to areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).
The news came from press release issued from Presidential spokesperson Ye Htut on Tuesday that stated international aid groups would be allowed to provide relief to all the internally displaced persons (IDP) in camps in Kachin state. The timing of the statement followed the Monday peace talks between the KIO and government representatives in the Chinese city of Ruili. During these recent talks no new ground was broken, but both sides agreed to meet again – possibly before the end of the month.
Previously the government was blocking international relief from reaching the majority of the thousands of displaced civilians sheltering in squalid camps in KIO-controlled territories along the border near China .
Details related to both the security of relief agencies accessing the IDPs and start dates still needed to be worked between the government and any potential donors, according to the statement.
From the onset of the conflict in Myanmar’s northernmost state the government has turned down most of the requests by the UN, the US and the UK to allow international aid to reach the IDP camps. Data compiled from local relief groups shows that international aid agencies, including the UN, have provided only 4% of the basic food needs for the displaced population.
According to UN estimates from December 2012, more than 45,000 IDPs are living in more than a dozen camps in areas along the Sino-Myanmar border, while another 30,000 Kachin live in government-controlled camps further south. But local Kachin relief groups estimate that the numbers are much higher.
