‘No Way out’ as Thousands of IDPs Flee Clashes in Northern Shan State

By Hom Hurng / Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N) | September, 4, 2018

With armed conflict on the way to Hsipaw and flooding outside Lashio, the displaced in Namtu Township are filling monasteries and makeshift camps.

More than 2,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) have taken refuge in Namtu and Hsipaw townships in northern Shan State following a series of clashes between the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) and troops affiliated with the Northern Alliance of ethnic armed groups.

Six makeshift camps have been set up in Mansam and Mong Mu villages in Namtu and in three monasteries in Hsipaw.

The IDPs have been arriving since September 1, Nang Seng a local healthcare volunteer in Namtu, told SHAN. In Mansam and Mong Mu, there are now more than 1,000 displaced people seeking shelter from one dozen villages. The number is a marked increase since SHAN reported on Monday that 500 people had arrived in the area after clashes between the Burma Army and Northern Alliance member the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA).

According to volunteers, 130 families are staying at Mansam’s northern monastery and 39 families at the church in the community. Nearly 50 families are staying in another monastery in the area, and more than 30 are in the local school. In Mong Mu’s monastery, there are more than 1,000 people.

“For those IDPs who have taken refuge in Mansam and Mong Mu, there is no way out. If they want to go to Hsipaw, there are armed groups that are active on the way. If they want to go to Lashio, there is flooding. They cannot go anywhere,” member of the IDP assistance committee Sai Ba Nyan told SHAN. “Battles are taking place not that far from Mansam. If battles keep intensifying, we don’t know what to do for the IDPs.”

In addition to those in Mansam and Mong Mu in Namtu, around 1,100 IDPs are seeking refuge in three monasteries in Hsipaw Township.

Shan Nationalities League for Democracy party secretary for Hsipaw, Sai Lao Seng, told SHAN that monasteries are nearly filled to capacity, and that there are public health concerns as one person has been diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Namtu Township has seen fighting between the Burma Army, members of the Northern Alliance, and the RCSS/SSA, leading to nearly one year of displacement for many of the area’s locals.