Over 42,000 have been displaced in Chin State in the five months since Burma’s military coup happened, according to Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO).
The internally displaced persons (IDPs) urgently need humanitarian assistance, CHRO said.
“IDPs in Mindat and other areas of Chin State told us they need food…They don’t have medicine too, and there are no medical workers in the camp,” said Salai Van Biak Thang, CHRO’s program coordinator.
He explained because it is raining every day it is really hard for IDPs to sleep on the muddy ground with only a plastic sheet.
According to CHRO, there are more than 15,000 IDPs in Mindat, Kampetlet and Matupi townships, 7,000 in Hakha Township, 5,000 in Thangtlang Township and over 15,000 in India’s Mizoram State.
Before the military took over the country on February 1, there were already about 10,000 villagers displaced by fighting between Burma Army and Arakan Army in southern Chin State.
Salai Van Biak Thang told Khonumthung News there has been no international assistance for IDPs in the north while the Red Cross provided some support for civilians who are displaced in the south. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are ready to help, however, “it can not start its project,” he explained.
Some IDPs have been able to return home while many others are still living in camps.
Over 2,000 IDPs from Kampetlet are afraid to return to their homes despite no clashes between Burma Army and Chinland Defence Force in the area for awhile.
According to a member of the Kampetlet Red Cross, some IDPs hiding in the jungle are using banana leaves to keep out the rain because they don’t have tarps. They desperately need food, medicine and other assistance.
Kampetlet Red Cross established an official IDP camp in Kampetlet town on June 3. Some civilians have sought refuge there and others have fled to the jungle.