Insufficient water adds to hardship faced by civilians, IDPs throughout Myanmar

The names of sources have been changed in this article to protect their safety A growing number of civilians in Myanmar, especially those displaced by war, are facing the unprecedented threat of water shortages as ponds and other sources run dry during one of the hottest dry seasons on record. After a series of recent battlefield defeats and the loss of hundreds of bases and towns to anti-junta forces, the Myanmar military has ramped up airstrikes and shelling with heavy artillery, causing hundreds of deaths and injuries and displacing thousands to internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps. As droughts have worsened due to climate change, all civilians in Myanmar face some risk of hardship from insufficient water, but IDPs are especially vulnerable to the scarcity in the camps and villages where they have taken refuge. The effects of these droughts on Rakhine State—one of the rainiest areas of Myanmar—have been especially acute in recent months, even as bombing and shelling by the junta have increased amid ongoing battles over territorial control of the state. Nay La, 52, fled his home in Kyauktaw Township with six family members when battles broke out between junta forces and the Arakan Army (AA), Rakhine State’s largest and most powerful ethnic armed organisation. Kyauktaw is now one of the eight townships in the state where the AA has established full control. Although there is some risk of not being able to find food, most people are able to subsist on the rice and other meals they can get, Nay La said. However, the lack of clean water has become a major problem, with many forced to use salty or impure creek water. “Drinking water is the most pressing issue in many parts of northern Rakhine State because the ponds are drying up faster than they used to,” Nay La said. While water scarcity during the dry season is not a new problem in the state, it is less manageable than in earlier years due to the unprecedented numbers of displaced people in rural areas without the infrastructure to accommodate them. Displaced people collecting water in a camp in Rakhine State. (Photo: Nay La) It takes at least 45 minutes to reach the nearest stream on foot, according to Nay La. People use carts, motorbikes, or cars if they own them or can afford to hire them. “It’s even more difficult with fighter jets flying overhead,” Nay La said.Knowing that an airstrike may happen at any time, people are cautious about going to collect water, only taking the risk when there are no junta aircraft in sight and they can feel relatively sure of their safety. With the AA vowing to take control of all territory in Rakhine State, a growing population of civilians displaced by the fighting is now facing the problem of insufficient water in addition to the near constant threat of air and artillery strikes. Chin State: Droughts amid violence In Chin State, which borders Rakhine State to the north, water scarcity is causing similar hardships for civilians, especially the thousands displaced by fighting between the Myanmar army and anti-junta ethnic armed organisations such as the Chinland Defence Force and Chin National Army. Water scarcity has become worse during the post-coup conflict as the number of IDPs in the state has increased, said a civilian man from Mindat in his 30s. Slash-and-burn agriculture—a known contributing cause for water scarcity—is a common practice in the rural communities outside Mindat, including among IDPs. The clearcutting of forests to create swiddens between January and February contributes to soil erosion which results in groundwater drying up faster and sometimes contaminates the remaining water sources. Internally displaced people fetching water in Minbya Township, Rakhine State. (Photo: Nay La) These factors—along with heat, droughts, and the need for caution due to the constant threat of junta airstrikes—have severely limited the choice of usable water sources accessible to people in the area, forcing them to go long distances to get enough to meet their needs. “Every morning when the sun rises, I take a 10-minute walk down to the valley to collect water, and then climb back up through the hills for 15 minutes,” the man from Mindat said. Most people fetch water three times a day by going down to the valley, he said, filling containers then carrying them back up to their houses. Since people get the water from creeks at the bottom of the hill, and make the arduous return trip carrying full containers, bathing and laundry have become an extra burden, he added. As in Rakhine State, the junta’s ongoing airstrikes aggravate the problem. “Amid all of this displacement and water scarcity, the planes are the cruellest thing,’ he said. “Whenever a war plane comes, we stop whatever we are doing and run for cover among the trees or to the nearest ditch.” The most galling moments of all, he said, are when an air force jet appears over the hills while he is climbing back up to his home, exhausted from carrying a heavy water container in the heat. “That’s when I hate them the most,” the man said. “They are just spending the public budget to torture us.” Escalating violence since the 2021 coup has driven many of Chin State’s people to India. People living in towns have also fled to nearby villages to avoid airstrikes, which tend to occur in populated areas. The man from Mindat said he had experienced three near misses when the air force’s bombs fell near ditches where he was trying to take cover. Some of his neighbours had been injured and one of his aunts was killed in January of this year. “The bomb blew her head off,” he said. “The rest of us only survived because we were taking cover in a ditch.” Despite the danger and privation they face, people in the area are reluctant to leave, feeling they have to stay near their farms for their livelihood, the man added. As for the displaced people who have come to the area, they have few options other than to stay where they are, having already incurred moving costs and been cut off from their incomes. Karenni State: Scarcity despite relative calm In Karenni State, a mostly hilly part of the country where water scarcity has posed challenges before, the scarcity in the current dry season was already noticeable as far back as November, much earlier than in previous years. According to Ko Zay, a leader of the Clean Yangon civil society organisation that is currently rendering aid to IDPs in areas of Karenni State under resistance control, there are not enough water sources for all the displaced people in the state. There is little to no rainfall during Myanmar’s dry season, which runs from October through February throughout the country and even longer in the drier areas. After using up rainwater collected in plastic containers fashioned from tarpaulins, IDPs and Clean Yangon volunteers have had to travel ever farther distances to find enough water for daily subsistence and hygiene, according to Ko Zay, collecting it from creeks and streams that are visibly drying up in the heat. With two trucks and a staff of four, Clean Yangon distributes water to some 5,000 people living in 15 different displaced persons’ camps, as well as to some villages impacted by the water shortage. “Every day from 8am till sunset, we drive back and forth between the camps and the creek beds at least fourteen times to distribute the water,” Ko Zay said. Each family, regardless of size, is allowed to take three containers from the water tank in the camp every two days. “That water is primarily for cooking and drinking. There is no water for bathing or washing, they can’t shower with that water,” Ko Zay told Myanmar Now. Travelling to fetch the water is relatively safe in the areas of Karenni State where Clean Yangon operates because, despite some threat from junta warplanes, Karenni resistance forces have established effective control over the territory, Ko Zay said. However, Clean Yangon’s work is still necessary because of the difficulty impoverished and displaced people have in accessing water. “Transporting water has become extremely costly due to the rising price for fuel,” Ko Zay added. “Without an income, getting water now is a big problem.” The inaccessibility has caused health problems in the displaced communities, including widespread skin conditions resulting from people’s inability to practise normal care and hygiene for themselves or their children. “It is a hot summer, but people cannot take showers. If needed, they travel to the creek by car once a week in groups. Having the chance to bathe once a week is the most they can count on,” Ko Zay said. “I want international aid agencies to help by coordinating with the local Karenni government,” he added, referring to the resistance organisations that had taken over territory from the military regime. “I want IDPs to get the humanitarian aid they need. They are suffering from this war.”

Insufficient water adds to hardship faced by civilians, IDPs throughout Myanmar

People in three states told Myanmar Now about the difficulties they face in getting sufficient water, a problem that has become worse with climate change and increased privation due to conflict

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