Displaced Kachin villagers face health problems
Health workers in the Maija Yang region of Kachin State are worried that the winter cold will be dangerous to young and old people in the makeshift camps built to shelter villagers displaced by fighting between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independent Army. Medics at the camps say they are now seeing many more patients with influenza, diarrhea and upper respiratory infections than they did last month. The volunteer medic told Karen News.
“A lot of patients came to the clinic this week. Before we were seeing about 20 patients a day, that has now increased to increase to earlier number 50. Most have flu, diarrhea and minor skin infection.”
In the meantime, there have over 11,000 displaced people in the camp where Kachin Independence Organization and other Kachin charity groups give support to refugees on basic things, foods, and clothes and some medicine but refugee says that the support are still not enough for them.
“We have to find the shelter here even we don’t get enough support here. There are also fighting still happening” said a villager from Maija Yang.
Most of the displaced villagers in Maija Yang fled from Momauk Township after fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Burma Army started on 6th June.
Outside Laiza the Je Yang Hka camp houses 4,991 people displaced from 34 villages in the surrounding area. At the time of writing there were a total of 19 camps housing 30,032 people forced from their villages when fighting started between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in June this year.
Maran Zau Seng is the medical officer at Hpum Lum Yang Camp 10km upstream from the Je Yang Hka camp. Maran Sau says his camp is smaller, with a population of 1,077 people.Pointing to a matrix neatly drawn on a whiteboard that details and records the camp’s ailments, he explains the work he and his staff of five have carried out since June.“We have treated 668 cases of extreme diarrhoea, 113 people with dysentery, 89 serious respiratory cases, 12 people with malaria, 41 skin infections, 34 eye infections, 25 trauma cases and 1,281 people with influenza. Serious cases we can’t treat here we send to the hospital in Laiza.”
La Rip, coordinator for the Laiza-based Relief Action Network for Internally Displaced People and Refugees, says there are now 30,032 people in makeshift camps and the numbers are growing daily.
“We desperately need international assistance. Our current situation is not sustainable. It’s beyond our capacity. Reaching all the displaced is difficult. The Shwegu area in the Bhamo district is under the control of the Burmese army _ that makes it impossible to get access to the 1,000 people hiding in the jungle.”
La Rip explained to Karen News.
“We lack experience. It’s more than just feeding and sheltering people. Now there are many social problems _ neighbour disputes, unemployment _ people looking for work are easy prey for traffickers. Young men are exploited for their labour, young women are forced into marriages or used as concubines. These people are vulnerable, open to exploitation.”
