Local people in Matupi Township are facing socio-economic hardships and struggling for their daily survival as a consequence road blockages and phone and internet services cuts after the regime declared martial law in the township in early February.
At present eight townships in Chin State are under martial law.
After 10 weeks of martial law in Matupi Township, local people are suffering from growing food insecurity.
The transportation of basic food products into Matupi town has nearly ground to a halt, and local people are having difficulty accessing food due to shortages and price increases.
The blockage of internet and phone services means that people in Matupi Township are not able to communicate with their families or access local news.
The Burma army is continuing to block phone and internet services in Matupi, Mindat and Kanpetlet Townships in southern Chin state.
“The Vehicle road has been closed for a month. Nobody can travel in the area. We cannot communicate to people in Matupi. I have been unable to call my home for two months. It looks like we are living in old days again. My family doesn’t know how I am doing and I do not know what is happening with my family,” a man, originally from Matupi and but currently living in central Burma, told Khonumthung news.
The Burma army’s blockage of vehicle roads important for transportation of basic foods and medicines, and the blockage information through cutting mobile phone and internet services is a sign that the regime is practicing its notorious four-cuts policy in southern Chin state, says local people.
Salai Per Thawng, spokesperson for the People’s Administration in Matupi Township, said that local people in Matupi town are facing greater difficulties than people living in rural areas.
“People in rural areas can work on their rotational farms, so they are able to grow their own rice and food. But people living in towns have faced many difficulties accessing sufficient food since March. People living in towns are not allowed to leave, and food is not coming in, this is why they are struggling,” Salai Per Thawng told Khonumthung news.
Access to and from Matupi Township is tightly control by the regime. If people in Matupi town want to travel to central Burma for medical treatment, they need to show permission letters from the health department, the police department, the General Administration Department (GAD) and the military strategic commander when they are travelling.
Chin resistance groups had multiple clashes with the Burma army in Matupi Township in February and March when the junta was sending food rations and weapons to the Burma army’s Htel Bwe military camp on the Matupi – Paletwa vehicle road.