The petition from villagers in See Thao tract follows one from Ner Makhaw earlier in January.

More than 3,000 people now internally displaced (IDPs) in northern Shan State’s Hsipaw Township signed a petition asking for the leaders of two warring Shan armed groups to meet.

The IDPs, from eastern Hsipaw’s See Thao village tract, sent the letter to a Shan Nationalities League for Democracy parliamentarian in Hsipaw on January 22.

“They will send our petition letter to the RCSS/SSA [Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army] and SSPP/SSA [Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army] leaders,” said Sai Lu, a signatory. “We are calling for a meeting to take place between these leaders as soon as possible and for armed conflict to end.”

Locals from the embattled Ner Makhaw area also sent a petition with 4,600 signatures to leaders of the Shan armed groups on January 11.

Villagers have had to flee from RCSS and SSPP clashes at least five times since early 2019. This instability has made it difficult or impossible for local people to harvest their crops from farms and could have serious implications for food security in the region over the coming year.