20 IDP Sittwe camps run without government rice-supplies for two months

Narinjara News, 21 March 2022

More than 20 IDP camps in Sittwe have not received the rice, supplied by the social welfare, relief and resettlement ministry, for nearly two months, said an IDP official.

The camps, located in 20 monasteries of the Arakan capital city, have been running without the government rice-supplies since February, said Sayadaw U Sakkainda, the head of Vibhagwadi monastery, which opened a camp to support the refugees.

“We have not received rice and other items from the authority for two months now. I heard that the government has reduced the budget to support the refugees. However, I cannot confirm,” he added.

There could be thousands of Rakhine refugees in the camps, who were compelled to escape their villages due to the ongoing conflict between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar Tamadaw in the last two years.

Maung Tin Oo, in-charge of a refugee camp admitted while talking to Narinjara News that the scarcity of rice has made the life of refugees difficult in true sense of the term.

“The refugees in camps may go hungry if the scarcity continues. There is no work for them as well. Many families with a bigger number of members have made the situation more complicated. As the government rice-supplies are stopped, the monks have to go searching for food items for the refugees,” he added.

U Hla Thein, a Rakhine State council spokesperson, admitted that the authority was planning to close several refugee camps in Rakhine.

Hence the gradual decline of rice-supplies from the government to various refugee camps has been observed.