Rakhine State responding to a crisis
Two outbreaks of inter-communal violence – in June and October 2012 – displaced as many as 140,000 residents of Myanmar’s second poorest state, Rakhine. It is estimated that an additional 27,800 people have fled the state by boat from the Bay of Bengal. The IDPs now live in 70 camps and camp like settings in 10 townships of Rakhine State. At least 93,707 (as of 30th November 2013) live in Sittwe Township’s 21 camps and in own or privately hosted accommodation.
All camps are overcrowded, with up to eight families residing in a single “longhouse”. The houses are made of bamboo, and corrugated iron sheet roofing. There is no privacy. Access to basic services is constrained. Residents are cut off from jobs, markets, health services and education. Although the camps of minority ethnic group of Buddhists are less constrained (residents can leave them freely) nearby schools have become overcrowded and residents have to pay for transportation into the town, which making it increasingly difficult for them to save money to pay the costs of resettlement. Residents there are still living in fear of the violence and fires that drove them from their homes one and a half years ago.
As of the end of November, only 400 permanent houses for resettlement had been built. LWF’s initial assessment of the camps, conducted between February and May, found that living conditions were far below international standards. Basic services were insufficient while access to education, psychosocial support, fire prevention/safety and camp coordination and camp management activities were almost non-existent.
In some camps children missed a year of school. LWF’s response to the humanitarian crisis has been swift. It rapidly installed fire safety infrastructure and trained fire safety volunteers. Every IDP camp and the one resettlement camp now has protection from fire.
LWF also built temporary learning centers, trained teachers and distributed education kits to students. Non-food item kits were also distributed: 2,700 kits in total, 1,700 more than the number called for in the ACT Appeal that funded LWF’s work.
Since 15th September 2013, as an implementing partner of UNHCR, LWF Myanmar has facilitated the development of Camp Management Committees (CMCs), ensuring that women and people with disabilities are represented. The CMCs members have received introductory trainings on areas such as leadership and good governance, accountability, humanitarian code of conduct and complaints and response mechanism (CRM). LWF also facilitated the development of terms of reference (ToRs) for the CMCs. At the end of August two international consultants seconded by Church of Sweden to assess the needs for psychosocial support, trained staff (including staff of other NGOs). LWF will expand this support in the coming years.
“Hopeless” is the word many camp residents use to describe their lives. Better services, more activities and a greater say in how camps are managed can provide residents with an alternative to hopelessness. LWF is providing humanitarian assistance to 4 camps in Sittwe, while advocating that a durable alternate strategy be implemented as soon as possible.
