Enduring hardships, embracing hope: War in Myanmar still displacing civilians by the thousands

Fierce clashes and intense shelling have caused dozens of casualties among civilians in northern Shan State’s largest city of Lashio and forced thousands more to flee their homes, joining more than two and a half million already displaced by conflict in Myanmar. In the weeks after fighting resumed in northern Shan State in the last week of June, vehicles carrying growing numbers of displaced civilians backed up at Lashio’s exits, causing major road congestion and slowing their escape from the fighting. Others were forced out of their homes by the fighting, but had no choice but to stay inside the city limits. Myo, who is staying at a monastery compound in the city after fleeing his house, said his 15-member family is one of three of the same size sheltering there. None of them are able to leave Lashio due to traffic, blocked roads, or the lack of funds, vehicles, or other necessary means. “We have elderly people and children here, many families, and no car,” Myo explained, adding that some have also chosen to remain in town out of fear that someone would burgle their homes. Concerns about the difficulty of settling in a new, unfamiliar place without relatives or acquaintances have also deterred some people from leaving, according to Myo, and the internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps within a reachable distance have a reputation for being overcrowded and short on food and medical supplies. “Rather than flee, we’ll stay and move as needed after assessing the situation carefully,” Myo said. Instead of seeking refuge in other cities or towns, which would be more expensive, he plans to move to one of the mountain villages near Kutkai where he has relatives. “It's a time when our lives are at risk every day,” said Myo, who is in his 50s. The recent fighting in northern Shan State is due to the second phase of Operation 1027, a broad, sweeping offensive against the Myanmar military by a grouping of ethnic armed groups known as the Brotherhood Alliance. The Brotherhood Alliance includes two member organisations active in northern Shan State: the Ta’ang National Liberation Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known informally as the Kokang army. The alliance overran dozens of junta bases and captured more than a dozen townships from the military in northern Shan State between October 2023 and January 2024, during the first phase of the offensive. Displaced people from towns in northern Shan State and neighbouring regions have typically relocated temporarily to other townships when fighting intensified where they live. “People from Namhsan and Manton, when fighting breaks out, flee to small villages for a while," a civilian living in northern Shan State said. “When the fighting subsides, they return to the town. That’s how they avoid the conflict.” A displaced man from Shwebo Township in Sagaing Region said that he keeps a pack of clothes on his motorcycle, ready to move at a moment’s notice if the army raids the village where he has found temporary shelter. “As this has been ongoing for months, we temporarily relocate to peaceful villages when attacks happen, and return when the situation stabilises,” he said. However, some who have taken shelter in IDP camps have no home to return to. Hundreds of thousands of houses have been destroyed by heavy artillery strikes, airstrikes, and fire. A woman from Mwaytalaing village in Mandalay Region’s Madaya Township said her house was burned down twice in the same year. “Now we're living in the forest,” she said, referring to a camp outside the village. “When they come, we run,” she added, referring to the junta forces. “When fighting breaks out, we run. We can’t go back if the situation doesn’t calm down.” Trapped in the city According to the 2014 census, Lashio Township had a population of nearly 330,000 at the time, with more than half residing in urban wards. While the number has diminished significantly since fighting restarted in the area, many of Lashio’s inhabitants have little choice but to stay and make the best of present conditions in the city. Locals from at least 10 families who fled from Lashio said they had to return to the town due to roadblocks or the difficulty of making ends meet in other cities. Families without the means to flee to or remain in major cities such as Taunggyi and Mandalay, or those that returned to Lashio after getting stranded on the way, are now enduring high commodity prices and the difficulty of finding safe shelter. “When we hear about food being provided somewhere in the town, we go to eat regardless of the quality of the food,” said a Lashio local. By staying in their hometown, some Lashio natives have no need to worry about finding a place to sleep or food to eat, but are in a constant state of anxiety about their safety, they said. With dozens being killed by artillery strikes as the fighting intensified, civilians have started preparing dugout shelters outside their homes. Digging the bomb shelters is not an option in every ward of Lashio. In wards 5 and 7, which are close to army bases, neither workers nor homeowners themselves were willing to take the risk of attracting the military’s attention before MNDAA soldiers took over the town and forced out the remaining junta troops in the first week of August. “Being close to Battalion 507, we didn't dare to dig bomb shelters. When there was artillery fire, we had to ask permission to hide in basements of acquaintances’ houses,” said a man living near an army battalion base in the city. According to the local news outlet Shwe Phee Myay, there were 32 deaths and 36 injuries due to the clashes in Lashio between July 3 and 13. Four of the people killed were children. Living as an IDP Since the anti-junta forces began to pursue a strategy of capturing entire towns from the Myanmar military, hundreds of thousands of civilians throughout the country have been forced to flee their homes and suffer the myriad hardships of life as an IDP. The conflicts rocking northern Shan State and Rakhine State since last year have forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee to various destinations. People displaced from their homes in Rakhine State have mostly fled to areas of the state controlled by the state’s powerful anti-junta armed group, the Arakan Army (AA), or to Yangon Region or Ayeyarwady Region. Most of the displaced tend to seek shelter in major cities and towns away from the battles or where there are relatives and friends able to take them in. They are often waylaid on the journey at roadblocks and checkpoints where armed personnel extort bribes from them, causing delays and increasing the costs of travel. “A trip that used to take only three hours can now take about four days due to road closures,” said Cho, 22, who fled from Rakhine State to Yangon. “Some have had to cross the sea by boat and some have had to walk part of the way.” Cho said she decided to leave her home due to fears of junta airstrikes and constant uncertainty about when fighting might break out, in addition to the lack of opportunities for a better life. Cho fled to Yangon with her two siblings and her aunt’s family, but said it had been impractical for both her parents to come, and she still worries for their safety and the danger that they may be arrested or taken captive. They remained behind because they were reluctant to leave their homeland for unfamiliar territory, Cho added. While relatively affluent displaced people can stay in hotels or rent houses for months at a time, those who cannot afford rent and food have to live in crowded religious buildings or IDP camps. A monk who is rendering assistance to more than 300 people displaced from Lashio and other parts of northern Shan State said that the IDPs with relatives stayed in shelters for a few days and then left to stay with their families. “They go to their relatives’ homes. Some go to towns and villages where they have family. Some who have nowhere to go are renting houses and working any job they can get. However, some of them have been in IDP camps for months,” the monk said. IDP camps are supported by donations, but face frequent food shortages. With the number of displaced people increasing, the camps are unprepared to accommodate them all. “There are many hardships. Not all the people who come can be taken in. We accommodate them in different locations. We can only assist the IDP with the donations we have,” the monk said. IDPs in major cities Despite having escaped the direct impacts of violence, those who have fled to major cities like Naypyitaw, Yangon, and Mandalay are contending with high costs of living—including rent and school fees for their children—and the difficulty of establishing themselves in new settings. A man in Yangon who left behind an air conditioning repair business in Kyaukkyi Township, Bago Region said he now has to take on whatever odd jobs he can find to make ends meet. “Aircon repair jobs are not available every day, so on the days there is work in construction, I have to go and do that instead,” he said. Rental rates and food prices, already rising due to inflation, have skyrocketed in cities following the massive influx of IDPs, further aggravating their difficulties. In major cities including Naypyitaw, the lack of camps or shelters for displaced people in monasteries and religious buildings has forced them to rent or depend on their relatives. A displaced woman who fled from Kyaukkyi Township, Bago Region to Yangon was unable to afford rent near the centre of town and is now paying 100,000 kyat per month to rent a residence in Hmawbi, on the city’s outskirts. “It is not convenient for us because we don’t have friends here. We’ll go back to Kyaukkyi as soon as we hear that the fighting there has stopped,” she said. Naypyitaw, which has generally remained insulated from the conflict afflicting most areas of Myanmar, has become a haven for supporters and families of the military. As a result, prices for land plots in Naypyitaw’s Pobbathiri Township, originally worth just a few million kyat, have increased to tens or hundreds of millions in kyat. Sandar, a woman displaced by fighting near Kawkareik, Karen State, is struggling to find a suitable place for her family of six, including her four-year-old child. “I weighed the options: Myawaddy, Yangon, Naypyitaw… I only came to Naypyitaw in the end because I have relatives here,” she said, adding that she came in January. Sandar began renting a house for 150,000 kyat (US $46) after living in her Naypyitaw relatives’ home became difficult. “When the money I had ran out, and I didn’t have a job, I opened a soft drink and salad shop in the rented house. I opened the shop because it was necessary,” she said. Sandar no longer has a home to return to in Kawkareik since it was destroyed in clashes between the military and anti-junta forces. Another family with three adult children, which fled to Naypyitaw from a Bago Region village on the east bank of the Sittaung River, said work was much more difficult to find in the capital than they had anticipated. Thet, the father of the family, said he and his wife had to take whatever manual jobs they were offered to make ends meet, and that two of his adult children were lucky to have been hired by friends managing a restaurant and store. “In our village we can't even plant crops. It’s too dangerous there because of landmines. So we came to the city because we feared we would starve soon,” Thet said. Other IDPs from Bago Region have mostly moved to towns and villages in the Taungoo and Nyaunglebin districts along the old Yangon-Mandalay Road and are living in rented houses. Cities under threat In northern Shan State, where the second phase of Operation 1027 started on June 25, intense fighting and airstrikes are ongoing in towns such as Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Nawnghkio, and Mongmit. As a result, tens of thousands of displaced people have fled to two major central cities. Displaced people from Lashio—where the MNDAA recently seized control from the military after weeks of assaults—are seeking shelter in Taunggyi, Kalaw, and Mandalay. Displaced people from northern Myanmar typically seek refuge in Mandalay, the central Myanmar city that serves as a transportation hub, and in Pyin Oo Lwin, the site of top military training facilities that has maintained a reputation as a safe haven from the war. Many IDPs have fled to Mandalay from nearby towns that have experienced intense fighting, such as Madaya, Singu, Mogok, Thabeikkyin, Tagaung, and Sagaing. However, the two major central cities where displaced people are seeking refuge are also at risk of a sudden outbreak of violence. “Because we're only 30 miles from the battles, we have to prepare for emergencies in advance," a resident of Pyin Oo Lwin said. A civilian man who fled to Mandalay from northern Myanmar said he has made plans to flee again in case fighting breaks out. “We’ll move towards other towns nearby. The main thing is to flee to cities or towns without fighting,” he said. Myo, who remained in Lashio because he lacked the means to relocate his whole family, expressed a wish felt by most of the millions of people in Myanmar who have had to leave their homes behind. “We hope for a quick end to the wars in Myanmar, and long for the time when people can sleep, rest, and travel happily. We just pray that day comes soon,” he said.

Enduring hardships, embracing hope: War in Myanmar still displacing civilians by the thousands

Inhabitants of northern Shan State’s recently captured administrative capital—a city that once had a population of more than 300,000—now share the plight of the millions who have fled their homes due to fighting, airstrikes, and heavy artillery shelling throughout the country

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