Over 60,000 displaced in Sagaing as fighting and shortages worsen

More than 60,000 people have been displaced across Sagaing Region’s Pale, Kale, and Tamu townships, where families now face critical shortages of food and medicine as their displacement drags on, local aid workers said.Since early July, civilians from more than 10 villages in Tamu Township and nearly 20 villages in northern Kale Township along the Kale-Tamu Road have fled to safety amid escalating clashes and military offensives.Residents from some 30 villages in Pale Township have been displaced for more than two months after violence erupted in late July, following the July 2 battle for Kan Daunt village.“We can’t even provide enough essentials like rice and oil, and many people have been voicing their complaints,” an aid worker from Pale Township, who requested anonymity, told Myanmar Now. “With each passing day, sustaining their livelihoods has become increasingly difficult.”The source said some families have moved to areas where they can find work to cope with the new food shortages. Others are staying with friends or relatives in nearby villages, while most remain in makeshift shelters in forests and mountains.At the same time, displaced people could face even greater difficulties in the long term, as many of their homes have been burned down and their valuables and property looted, an official from a local relief organisation told Myanmar Now.“Some people call me to ask if there are any donors for rice and oil,” the officials said. “They are not entirely starving, but they have reached the point where rations must be shared. It has also become increasingly difficult for us to find donors.”Sagaing Region has become one of the fiercest battlegrounds since the 2021 coup. Local resistance groups, known as People’s Defense Forces (PDFs), have mounted a strong armed uprising against the junta, turning the region into a hub of anti-regime activity. The military has responded with widespread scorched-earth campaigns—burning villages, carrying out airstrikes, and targeting civilians suspected of supporting resistance groups.Residents from nearly 20 villages in northern Kale Township along the Kale-Tamu Road have been displaced following recent clashes. In Tamu Township along the Kale-Tamu Road, also known as the Asian Highway, residents from various southern villages have also been displaced. In Pale Township, residents from nearly 30 villages have fled for their lives.The military has restricted transport to cut off supplies to resistance-held areas while continuing offensives in Sagaing Region. Medicines, hygiene products, and other goods headed for upper Myanmar through Mandalay must undergo inspection at the Swei Taw Highway Bus Terminal customs office before being shipped onward via the Ayeyarwaddy Riverport.Prices have risen in Sagaing Region due to restrictions, while most residents, having fled the clashes, are unable to earn a living from their main source of income—agriculture.Many displaced residents have sought shelter in nearby villages, often staying with relatives. One farmer from Min Taing Pin village, Pale Township, who asked not to be named, said soldiers routinely ransack his farm. He noted that frequent patrols by military columns have left him too afraid to work his own land.“I gathered the courage to enter the village and collect some rations from my house after the column had moved on,” the displaced farmer said. “They took about 150 tins of rice from my home.”

Over 60,000 displaced in Sagaing as fighting and shortages worsen

Villagers in Pale, Kale, and Tamu townships face food and medicine shortages as the junta’s scorched-earth campaign leaves homes burned and livelihoods destroyed

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