Dozens of people sheltering in Bago region after fleeing their villages amid fighting in Rakhine state are in need of food and medical care, a local aid group has said.
The internally displaced people (IDPs) have been staying in temporary shelters in Inn Ta Kaw township since last week and have built their own shelters.
They are ethnically Chin and are receiving help from the Relief and Rehabilitation Committee for Chin IDPs (RRCCI).
“There are pregnant women who need healthcare. They need a lot of help. They don’t even have their own cups and plates,” said Win Maung, a committee member from the group.
Twenty children among the IDPs also need schooling, he said.
The IDPs hail from the Darla Chaung village group, Mingalardon, Ywar Haung and Nyaun Chaung villages in Ann township, and initially took shelter in Yangon’s Hlegu township after fleeing fighting in July.
But they moved to Inn Ta Kaw township last week because there weren’t enough shelters for everyone at the Hlegu site, Win Maung said.
Yin Hla, 21, from Mingalardon village, is three months pregnant. She wants to give birth to her child back in her village. “I have no job here but there’s work for me in my village,” she said.
She fled because the Tatmadaw wouldn’t let the villagers work on their farms and the village was frequently hit by artillery shells, she said.
Her fellow villager, Kyaw Kyaw Shwe, said he wants to earn a living while taking refuge in Inn Ta Kaw township.
About 4,500 ethnically Chin people from Darla Chaung village in Ann township have been displaced by recent fighting, according to figures from the Chin Humanitarian Assistance Team.
They are taking refuge elsewhere in Ann township as well as in Magway and Yangon regions.
