Thousands of Pauk Taw Muslim refugees shifted to safer place

Thousands of Muslim refugees in Pauk Taw township, a few milessouth-east of the Rakhine capital city Sittwe, were evacuated to KyiniByint IDP camp under the same township because of the cyclone Mocha.

The initiative is taken to prevent damages by the storm that may make landfall between northern Arakan and southern part of Bangladesh.

A leader of Kyini Byint IDP camp informed Narinjara News that all Muslim refugees from two camps namely Sin Thet Maw and Ngat Chaung  were shifted on Friday and Saturday.

Both the camps are located near the sea and the buildings there are also not strong enough to face a major wind storm. Moreover, the tides can rise with the wind and hence they have been moved to a safe place.

Kyini Byint camp is on a high ground and understood as safe for the refugees. Many shifted families are taking shelter in mosques, schools and even relatives’ houses in the camp, which lost around 200 houses and dormitories in a massive fire that broke out on 7 May.

Another camp leader said that as thousands of refugees are taking shelter there, the problems of accommodation and sufficient food also arise. They have food stock for some days only. So they will face more  problems after the storm if not supported by any donor agencies.

Cyclone Mocha, which has been developing in central part of the Bay of Bengal, is forecast to make landfall between northern Rakhine State and south Bangladesh in the evening hours of Sunday.