AB News March 28, 2024

Refugees say that some of them are having to resort to begging for food in villages as their children are starving.

A family that lived in a refugee camp in Mruak Oo came to take shelter in the monastery in our village.

The father is in poor health and they have run out of the money they gained from selling off little pieces of gold jewelry.

“As the children are starving, the mother could no longer feel ashamed but had to go to the village to beg for good. The children are emaciated.” a young woman from Mrauk Oo told AB News of what she saw.

People in Kyauktaw also have to go and work in forests in order to solve their livelihood issues, ignoring the danger of landmines, a local resident said.   

“Last year, I worked as a bean picker but this year, nobody has planted beans because of the fighting. There are navy ships patrolling the rivers. Thats why I cant care about the landmines but have to climb the mountains to cut wood and bamboo in order to survive.” He added.

On March 3, this year, 8 people cutting wood and bamboo in Minbya township were arrested and used as human shields by the Myanmar military who shot dead 5 of them and the remaining 3 were rescued by Arakan Army. The survivors testified in a video clip issued by Arakan Army.

Arbitrary arrests continue to occur in Rakhine and there have been over 700 people under detention. UN-OCHA allegedly link them to both armed groups engaging in the conflict.

At least 1 local has been killed and 6 injured so far this month, March, due to the landmines left over from the war.

There were 63,332 people who had to flee their villages and became refugees during the fighting from 2018 to 2020, and from November 13 last year, when the new round of fighting started, to February 13, 2024, additional 268,731 people became refugees, total number reaching 331,063, according to Humanitarian and Development Cooperation Office (HDCO).

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