Burmese fleeing bombings as junta ‘sets example’ for city of Loikaw | Burma

NorthAn and his family had just one hour to collect their belongings and prepare to flee their home. A charity had offered to take them away from Loikaw, the capital of Kayah state in eastern Myanmar, to a relatively safe location. He considered staying behind, with the plants and dogs and pigs he had raised, but he knew he had to go.

Since last week, Loikaw has seen heavy fighting between groups opposed to last year’s military coup and the armed forces, which have launched airstrikes and artillery fire. An artillery shell had landed near Nan’s fence, terrorizing her cousin’s children, who ran to hide under her bed. “It was so strong,” he said. “My grandmother was shocked and sweating, we had to give her medicine to calm her down.” Other houses in Nan’s neighborhood have been hit.

The A dear that half of the Loikaw population has been forced from their homes and that almost 90,000 people from Kayah State, formerly known as Karenni State, are displaced. Estimates from local media and a rights group are much higher, suggesting that up to 170,000 people in Kayah, more than half of its population, have left their homes.

Almost a year after the military took power in Myanmar, the junta faces widespread and defiant opposition to its government and the heinous violence it has inflicted on the public. Along with a peaceful protest movement, people across the country have resorted to taking up arms, sometimes with the support of established ethnic armed organizations.

The army is now fighting armed groups on multiple fronts. This includes Kayah state, where it has encountered strong opposition and, in turn, has launched brutal crackdowns. In December, more than 30 people, including children, were killed and their bodies burned in a massacre on Christmas Eve.

On January 7, a day after the fighting intensified, Nan, 26, left her home along with her grandmother, who was ill, her parents, cousins ​​and their children.

The journey to Shan State, where they sought refuge, would normally take three and a half hours. Instead, the family took three days. The fighting forced them to stop and take cover along the way, only for the attacks to become so close that there was no option to move again. “They continually lunged behind us as we went along,” he said.

Ba Nyar, a spokesperson for the Karenni Human Rights Group, said the situation was the most serious it had seen in the state and that 170,000 people were displaced. Many had sought refuge in Buddhist temple enclosures, schools and community halls, he said. But people struggled to access food or basic items such as blankets or makeshift roofs to shelter at night, he added.

After the recent escalation in fighting, the army stopped all trucks going in and out of Loikaw, cutting off supplies, said a volunteer at a refugee camp where about 100 families are sheltering. According to an independent media report Burma now, the army also cut electricity in several areas of Loikaw, stopping water supply and Wi-Fi coverage.

More than 650 houses and other civilian property, including churches, monasteries and schools, have been burned or destroyed in Kayah state since May 2021, according to reports cited by the UN.

This week, the UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called on the head of the junta, Min Aung Hlaing, to “immediately stop the air and ground attacks that the junta forces have unleashed on Loikaw”, to lift blocking those who seek to escape. and allow access to those seeking to provide help and shelter.

The UN children’s agency, Unicef, said it was gravely concerned by the escalation of the conflict and condemned the killing of at least four children across the country and the maiming of others in the past week. Among the injured are a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy from Loikaw, who were hit by heavy weapons “after intense air strikes and mortar attacks,” according to UNICEF.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said the military “clearly decided to make an example of Loikaw, hitting him with indiscriminate artillery and aerial bombardment that puts civilians at serious risk of serious harm.”

“Humanitarian assistance is urgently needed, and NGOs, UN agencies and donors should do everything possible to provide assistance to displaced people in need,” he said.

Few are left at Loikaw. A resident still in the city said there were shootings Wednesday night until 9:00 p.m. and that three military helicopters were seen in the sky. “I have to stay very quiet inside my house for my safety and eat what I have,” he said. “I gave everything else to my family.”

He stayed in town to guard the family home, but will leave if the fighting worsens. “I think we can still go, but there are many soldiers hiding on the roads,” he said.

Nan’s family was detained twice at checkpoints before reaching a relatively safe location in Shan State. Their grandmother, who had heart problems, died before they arrived. Nan believes it was the shock and trauma caused by the sound of artillery fire.

Even when the family tried to pause their journey to hold a funeral for her in a nearby town, they were again forced to leave immediately due to the worsening violence. Residents of the area were also forced to flee.

Nan has considered going home. As he drove through the mountains in the back of a truck, he longed to return. “If my parents are safe, I would like to go back there even if I have to move from one place to another when there are fights in town,” he said. “I miss my home so much.”