Kantarawaddy Times
Displaced people at the Shwe Nyaung Kone internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, located in the western part of Hpruso Township, Karenni State, are facing rice shortages and are appealing for assistance, according to a camp official.
At present, IDPs are borrowing rice or cooking rice porridge to survive, the official said.
“Rice, cooking oil, and salt are the primary needs. When you go and see the IDPs, they have almost nothing. What little work they can do only provides food for about one or two months. There are also groups surviving on rice porridge, so it is very difficult for us to seek help for them,” a member of the IDP committee said.
Although the IDPs in western Hpruso have permission from local villagers to work on shifting farms, most of them are originally from urban areas and face difficulties in carrying out upland farming.
“The main problem is that those who fled to Shwe Nyaung Kone are not used to shifting cultivation. Even though villagers encourage them to farm, people who moved from towns to mountainous areas are not accustomed to this kind of work, so they struggle. The biggest challenge is basic livelihoods,” another IDP committee member explained.
As displacement drags on, donations have declined, and the IDP committee said they can only provide about two pyi of rice per person to families facing emergency shortages.
Due to these ongoing shortages, concerns are rising that long-term conditions will become even more difficult, especially for the health of children and the elderly, according to the camp committee.
The Shwe Nyaung Kone IDP camp in the western part of Hpruso Township is currently home to 73 households, with a population of more than 200 people.
