The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) announced on November 10 that one million US dollars will be used to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to war victims in northern Shan State.
In order to help the refugees, it is important for all relevant groups to stop fighting and allow unimpeded access.
Currently, the main roads connecting to Lashio city are blocked and the roads in northern Shan state are also restricted.
UNOCHA says that the current $1 million in emergency aid will not meet the growing humanitarian aid needs.
According to UNOCHA's data, since the ethnic armed groups started fighting in northern Shan State, the fighting, including aerial and artillery fire, has continued to intensify, and as of November 9, nearly 50,000 civilians have fled their homes.
During the attacks, 19 civilians were killed and 39 were injured, and at least 200 homes were destroyed, according to the statement.
On November 9, UNOCHA's head of Myanmar met with the Foreign Minister of the Military Council, U Than Swe, to provide humanitarian assistance. During the meeting, issues of cooperation between the military council and UN organizations and humanitarian assistance were discussed, the military council newspapers reported on November 10.
After the coup, nearly 80,000 homes were burned down
The number of homes destroyed by fire continues to rise as the military council army and its subordinates raid and burn villages during operations to suppress the armed resistance that is emerging across the country.
Data for Myanmar, a group that studies and monitors these events, announced on November 8 that nearly 80,000 homes (76,923) were destroyed by fire from the time of the coup to the end of October 2023.
Of these, 37 percent of nearly 30,000 homes (28,460 units) were burned down in the ten months from January to October 2023.
"Burning down communities is unacceptable from a human rights standpoint."
On November 7, the Military Council Army, Mandalay Region, A resident of Pyay village said that they raided Pyay village in Myengkham township, arrested and killed civilians, and burned down a total of 37 betel fields and homes.
"They entered the village after burning the betel fields in the north of Pya village. They went after the betel plantations around the village and burned them. When people see them, they shoot them. It started from that. Both the house and the kum farm were 37."
He said six civilians, including a three-year-old child, were killed during the raid. In October 2022, the military council set fire to the village of Pya, causing 67 houses to burn and one civilian being killed, according to local residents.
Sagaing region was the most affected by fire. After the coup, a total of nearly 60,000 houses (58,397) were destroyed.
Arson attacks continue in Sagaing, where armed resistance is strong, and on November 8th, the small village of Letaungxin in Ma Pin Township was almost completely burned down.
Ko Minko, a PDF member of the 27th Battalion of Ima Pin District, said that after a battle between the military council army and the defense forces based in Ima Pin, the army set fire to the village.
"When they came near this village of Lat Taung, there was a skirmish with the defense forces and mines. When it happened, because of their side's damage, they burned the village of Lataung Xun. There are around 60 to 70 houses in Le Taung Xun village. As of now, there are only around ten houses left."
He said that the residents of Lat Taung village, who became homeless, had to live in temporary tents with rain covers and were having trouble making ends meet.
Due to the ongoing fighting, it will not be easy for the people who have become homeless all over the country to fully rehabilitate, said an official of the Ayangapita District Small Prisons Group, which is helping the war-torn refugees.
"They are unable to re-establish because of the difficulties they have in their establishment. Now, when they have to pay more than 3,000 to 4,000 kyats even for broken rice, when their daily wage is not enough to buy rice oil, it is very difficult to rehabilitate. Some of them were unable to be restored and had to shelter in nearby villages. Some of them can't even rebuild their houses, so they live in tents with small awnings. Since all of them are handmade, it is difficult to restore them."
The Data for Myanamr group announced that such arson incidents by the military council army and its subordinates have occurred across the country. Those helping refugees said that nearly 400,000 civilians were left homeless due to the burning of their homes.
Regarding this, I contacted General Zaw Min Tun, who is authorized to speak for the military council, but he did not reply. But in 2022, When asked by RFA on June 6, they said that their soldiers never set fire to the homes of local residents.
The victims of the burning of their homes and the locals said that their homes were burned down by the military council soldiers.
U Zaw Win, a human rights expert at Fortify Rights, a Southeast Asia-based human rights organization, said that burning down communities is unacceptable from a human rights standpoint.
"This kind of forced burning of people's houses by the military council is unacceptable. If you look at the human rights prison. They (people) are not terrorists. This is the people who live peacefully. Also, they have to restore them from the state treasury for what was destroyed by fire. Rehabilitation works must be done"
According to the figures of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), due to military conflicts and insecurity, the number of internally displaced persons across Myanmar has reached almost two million.
Of these, nearly 1.7 million were displaced by the conflict and insecurity that followed the coup.
Wow! Impressive!
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