IDPs still stuck in camps in Meikhtila

 

A township administrator said 3,420 people from 825 households remain in five IDP camps, but added that one of the camps would be closed next week after its residents were relocated. The officials said water and electricity were provided to all camps to make living in them easier, but in interviews by Eleven Media camp residents said they lacked adequate sanitation facilities and that the camps were infested with rats and mosquitoes.

“The water supply is regular but electricity is available only from 6 am to 6 pm,” said a resident of a camp at the town’s sports stadium. Their health is being affected by poor sanitation, he said. “Rats and mosquitoes are everywhere,” the IDP added. He also said gambling had become commonplace and that this was causing the crime rate to surge. People don’t feel safe in the camps, he and other IDPs said, adding that a fire in the camp last month had left residents feeling edgy.

Those interviewed also said authorities had yet to provide them with clear details on when they would be relocated. Most had no idea when they would get new homes.

 “We don’t have any other place to go, that’s why we are still in this camp,” an elderly woman in Thathana Yeikha camp said. “Some people have been relocated to Chan Aye so it has made more space for us and they tell us more homes are being built, but I don’t know when exactly,” she added.

Another at Sasana Rakhita camp said “I think our lives are hopeless now. We are often told that we are moving here and there. If possible, I do not want to live here for one minute. But there is no home to live. We just have nothing to do but to wait until new houses were built. If we are to return, we will be living at Chanaye.”

As a result of rioting, more than 40 people died. Five temporary shelters were built and all were scheduled to close by the end of July.