Introduction

Between June 21st and July 5th 2022, fighting broke out in Paw Pee Der village tract[2], Thawaw T’Ku village tract, T’Hkaw Pwa village tract, and Noh Nyah Lah village tract, Moo (Mone) Township, Kler Lwee Htoo (Nyaunglebin) District. Due to fighting and shelling, local villagers were forced to flee, and faced food insecurity and health issues.

Displacement

On July 2nd 2022, fighting broke out between Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)[3] and State Administration Council (SAC)[4] troops without any warning [taking the villagers by surprise] in H--- village and P--- village, Paw Pee Der village tract, A---village, T’Hkaw Pwa village tract, and K--- village, Thawaw T’Ku village tract, Moo Township, Kler Lwee Htoo District. [On July 2nd and the following days,] SAC soldiers from Light Infantry Battalion (LIB)[5] #590 shelled mortars at H--- village, Paw Pee Der village tract, causing some of the villagers to flee to Pyuh Town and N--- village, Thawaw T’Ku village tract. Since the villagers had to flee immediately, they were unable to bring clothes, medicine, or food with them. At first, the villagers thought that the fighting would only last a short period of time. However, after the fighting broke out between SAC and KNLA soldiers, SAC soldiers entered H--- village and fired mortars into the village, making displaced villagers too afraid to return. Some of the villagers stayed at Pyuh Town and N--- village.

Food insecurity and displacement difficulties

On July 2nd 2022, because of the armed conflict, villagers from from H--- village in Paw Pee Der village tract, T--- village and A--- village in T’Hkaw Pwa village tract, N--- village, S---village, W--- village, and P--- village in Noh Nyga Lah village tract, R--- village in Thawaw T'Ku village tract, and W---village in Wai Shwen village tract, fled to N---village, Thawaw T’Ku village tract. There, they faced problems of food shortages. They were unable to take the food from their village because the Burmese military [SAC] lived in it [occupied it]. The displaced villagers were worried that if they returned to their villages, they would be arrested, hit, and tortured, so they were too afraid to return to their villages to get food. As a result, they had to borrow food from N--- villagers. However, N--- villagers also previously had to displace [due to armed clashes in the area], so they didn’t have enough food [for everyone]. If fighting continued for a long time, they were afraid they would face further problems of food shortages.

The village administrator asked the villagers who fled to N---village to move and seek refuge in the jungle [after they stayed in the village for a while] because they were worried that Burmese [SAC] soldiers would come to the village. The displaced villagers stayed in the jungle, which is far away from the village, and they didn’t have enough food [faced food insecurity]. Additionally, the displaced villagers faced serious problems when it was raining because some didn’t have roofs [tarpaulins], and those who had roofs [tarpaulins] only had old and torn ones. [As of March 2023, villagers who fled to N--- village have not yet returned to their villages].

Health care

Villagers in Thawaw T’Ku village tract, Paw Pee Der village tract, T'Hkaw Pwa village tract and Noh Nyah Lah village tract, Moo Township, were forced to flee and some stayed in the jungle without access to medical care. Children, pregnant women, newborn mothers, the elderly, and those with medical conditions were among the displaced villagers; as a result, their long journey presented challenges. Some children developed fevers, coughs, runny noses, and colds, and all reported feeling exhausted. They faced health difficulties as a result of insect bites. Since they only had one set of clothes with them, some of the displaced villagers struggled to take a bath. Their clothing became soaked because it was often raining, and it was challenging to dry them. As a result, some people got colds and runny noses. It was difficult for mothers and their newborns to deal with the cold situation. Some women had just delivered their babies a few days prior. They faced health challenges because they didn’t have enough food and medicine.

Further background reading on the security and human rights situation in Kler Lwee Htoo District in Southeast Burma can be found in the following KHRG reports:

• “Kler Lwee Htoo District Short Update: Fighting, indiscriminate shelling, displacement, air strikes, and limited access to education, August to September 2022”, March 2023.
• “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: SAC arbitrarily killing of a villager near his farm hut, Moo Township, September 2022”, February 2023.
• “Kler Lwee Htoo District Incident Report: SAC soldiers shot dead a female villager in Moo Township, November 2022”, February 2023.
• “Kler Lwee Htoo District Short Update: Fighting and displacement, air strikes and SAC indiscriminate shelling, July to September 2022”, February 2023.