Photo – Kaung Zaw Hein/MPA
The Sothe IDP Camp is a camp in Karenni State where IDPs live who are unable and afraid to return home due to the terrorist SAC raids and the destruction of villages.
A total of 1,661 people from 8 villages such as Dawta Toh, Khora Khu, Da Leh, Pret Taw, Tanaw Ka Law, Daw kaLaw Lae, Daw Thae and Daw See Khu are living together in the Sothae IDP Camp.
There are 162 children under 5 years old and 187 elderly grandparents over 60 years old in the camp, some of the grandparents have been blind and deaf for many years with health needs.
Some of them are those who were born while fleeing the war in the Japanese era, and those who fled the war during the Japanese era, even at the current old age, they cannot be at peace and face the disaster of war again.
Most of them have no homes to return to and have experienced the burning down of their homes in their native villages by the terrorist SAC troops.
People who have abandoned their homes and farmed animals are fleeing the war and struggling for survival in the jungles where life is considered safe.
“Rainwater can be used as drinking water. But it’s not enough. There are also many transportation difficulties. There are people who have lost their lives because of insufficient medicine. Communication is also not convenient, so we need communication devices. The covers of some tents are also decaying. When they come to ask for things, but we can’t give,” said U Poe Yel, an official of the camp committee.
There was also a record of four IDPs dying in the camp due to insufficient medicine, harsh weather, inadequate shelter, and insufficient food.
Amidst the difficulties, in order not to deprive children of the same right to an education that every adult has, the camp officials continue to educate elementary school-age children in a building that is not even worthy of being called a school in a place that can be said to be an empty space in the camp.
In order to ensure that there is no shortage of food inside the camp, which is an IDP camp that needs various support, the people who have fled the war are also cultivating the fields near the camp to the best of their ability.
However, as people who have fled from their homes, they have to farm using human labour due to the living conditions of cattle and no input equipment.
Camp officials predict that the coming winter will cause a shortage of drinking water in the IDP camp, which relies only on rainwater.
The official of the IDP camp committee, U Poe Yel, appealed to donors to donate drinking water, communication devices and necessary food and medicine for the people of the Sothae IDP camp.
As the terrorist SAC’s columns continue to advance in Karenni land, the hope of the people displaced by the war to return to their homes is still far away.