Blessing / Kantarawaddy Times
“As soon as the rainy season arrives, we deeply miss our home, our land, and our farms. We want to go back and farm again. But we can’t return, and that makes us very sad.”
These are the words from U Phyar Reh, a 42-year-old farmer. May and June are important months for farmers to begin plowing and preparing their fields. However, for U Phyar Reh, now as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), this farming season brings no such opportunity. Additionally, he is not able to go back to his home due to the ongoing conflict.
U Phyar Reh is originally from Mine Phyat Village in southern Shan State. In recent years, fighting between the Myanmar military, allied with the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), and revolutionary forces has displaced residents from Mine Phyat and at least five nearby villages.
When he escaped, U Phyar Reh could not bring any farming tools and only managed to carry a few personal belongings.
Now, U Phyar Reh and others like him are living in “Htay Kay Lyar” IDP camp, located in the western part of DeeMawHso Township.
Back in his village, he owned three acres of paddy fields where he cultivated mainly rice and corn. Due to the conflict, he couldn’t harvest the ripened rice and had to leave behind all his essential farming equipment, such as his tractor and tiller.
He added that he invested around 5 million kyats in that season’s rice cultivation, and the farming equipment he lost was worth approximately 40 million kyats.
Since he still cannot return home, U Phyar Reh expressed his sorrow for being unable to farm this year.
Every time he sees other farmers around the IDP camp preparing their land for cultivation, it reminds him of his own land.
“When I look at the rice fields and corn patches of others, it reminds me of my own village and farmland,” he said.
The presence of junta troops and landmines in his village prevents him from even visiting his home. He has heard that soldiers burned down his house and looted or even destroyed his equipment.
U Phyar Reh is not alone in his situation. Many other IDPs have had to abandon their farms and now survive in camps on donated rice, oil, and salt from humanitarian organizations.
“If we were back on our land, life would be a bit easier. But here, there’s nothing we can do. It’s very difficult,” said 31-year-old IDP woman Maw Phray Myar.
She also fled from Mine Phyat and worked as a farmer. Now, she sometimes works on others’ farms for daily wages to support herself and her children. As a single mother, she struggles to make ends meet.
Although she manages with occasional daily wage jobs, the income is not enough for daily needs. With two young children to feed, she has to be even more careful, prioritizing nutritious meals for them.
“In the past, when I lived and worked on my own land, I could get by just fine. But now everything has changed, and we have to manage very carefully. We mainly rely on the donated rice, oil, and salt. Where we used to cook four cups of rice, now we cook only two. It’s not the same as back in the village. I feed the kids first and eat what’s left,” she added.
Maw Phray Myar doesn’t always have work, as the demand for farm labor depends on the season. “I just take whatever opportunities that are present to grasp,” she said.
Farming has long been the traditional livelihood for people in Karenni State and in the Shan–Karenni border areas, like Moebye and Phekon townships. Displacement has left many without access to farmland, and food shortages, especially of rice, remain urgent.
As the planting season arrives, displaced farmers continue to miss their land. Some have managed to work on others’ farms on a rental or sharecropping basis. While long-term food security is uncertain, they do what they can each day to get by.
Besides conflict, many farmers also suffered crop losses last year due to natural disasters, particularly the flood.
After more than four years of displacement, humanitarian aid has declined, and many IDPs now rely on inconsistent daily wage work or borrow rice from relatives and friends.
Since the interim government (IEC) still lacks the capacity to support all displaced persons comprehensively, many IDPs continue to struggle on their own.
Displaced farmers, having lost their farms and homes, still hope the war will end soon. Even if they have to start life again from the beginning, they are ready.
As each planting season passes, so does their yearning to return. Maw Phray Myar, one such displaced farmer, summed it up, “No matter when we return to our village, we’ll have to start farming again. That’s all we know. That’s what we’ve always done.”
