More Rohingyas remaining in Buthidaung are eyeing life in the IDP camps after MAYEKA officials took land measurements and brought in construction materials. at Fiyas Khali and Kapyu Daung.
While a huge number of Rohingya and Kaman Muslims in the townships of Akyab, Kyauktaw, Pathor Keela (Mrauk U) and other areas have been living in IDP camps since the riots of 2012, this was not the case for the frontier areas of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung despite atrocities committed by Buddhist nationalist mobs. The IDP camps in place since 2012 have been described by humanitarian organisations as open air prisons where living conditions are the worst in the world.
But the Rohingyas in the frontier townships had managed to cling on to their homes. That changed in 2017 when the military operations killed approximately 25,000 people and drove the vast majority across the border to Bangladesh. Since then, the government has also been making plans to house the Rohingyas in the frontier districts in IDP camps similar to those built further south in 2012.
The Rohingyas to be housed in these two new IDP sites are mainly from Na Kaing Taung, Tat Min Chaung, Kyaw Pyu Taung, Let Wai Dad Pa Zun Chaung and Let Wei Dad Pyin, according to oral testimonies of MAYEKA officials.
