CNI News

26 Sept 2022

Assistance Committee for Internally Displaced Persons in Namtu in Shan State (North) has filed an appeal to postpone the relocation of IDP camps until students have completed the current academic year, an official of the committee told the CNI.

Authorities have asked the IDP camps in early September to shut them down by the end of October.

The committee official said, “We have filed an appeal to relocate the camps in the upcoming April because children of IDPs are still studying at schools but haven’t received their reply. If our request is successful, their children will be able to go to school until April conveniently.”

Shan, Lisu and Kachin IDP camps in Namtu Township house more than 500 people from 100 households.

A scene in Namtu. (GETTY IMAGES)

As there are no armed conflicts in Kyaukme Township, authorities have asked IDPs to return home, Chairman U Tin Maung Thein of Kyaukme Township Jivitadana Social Assistance Association told the CNI.

He said, “In the past, fighting broke out between the Restoration Council of Shan State and the alliance of the Shan State Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army. Now, there is no armed clash in their area and the IDPs were told to return to their former villages.”

IDPs in Namtu.

Armed clashes between the RCSS on the one hand and the SSPP, the TNLA, the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) on the other hand break out in Shan State (North). The EAOs also fight against the Tatmadaw.

An official from the IDP committee told the CNI, “There is no armed clashes but some EAOs may be still active in the areas. So, some IDPs are thinking about collectively buying land near the camp and settling there. Some of them decided to go back to their former villages while others are considering renting houses in villages near their camps.”

There are about 15,000 IDPs in 26 IDP camps in Kutkai, Namkham, Namtu, Manton, Lashio and Hseinni in northern Shan State, according to the Shwephimyay News Agency.