Junta-appointed administrators have told people displaced by fighting (IDPs) who are sheltering in Nyaungshwe Township, southern Shan State, that they must return to their homes by March 2025.

The order has come from the Nyaungshwe Township General Administration Office which, in the third week of November, instructed ward and village-level administrators to make sure that all the IDPs sheltering in Nyaungshwe Township monasteries leave them by March 2025, according to an IDP from Loikaw Township, Karenni State who is currently sheltering in Nyaungshwe Township.

She said: “In the third week of November, village and ward administrators were called to a meeting, where they were instructed to ensure that all displaced people were repatriated by March. Perhaps the authorities don’t want monasteries to be crowded with displaced people, I can’t say for sure. The truth is, we are sheltering in monasteries because we have nowhere else to go. We also want to return home. There is no place like home.”

Previously, at the end of 2023, the Nyaungshwe Township General Administration had already instructed ward administrators to get IDPs to leave Nyaungshwe Township. But, the plans were never implemented because many of the IDPs sheltering in Nyaungshwe Township were from Loikaw Township and at the time fighting had started escalating in Loikaw Township, making it unsafe for ISPs to return there.

The aforementioned IDP was already staying in a Nyaungshwe Township monastery at that time, but the abbot did not force her to leave and allowed her to stay.

She said to SHAN: “Similarly to the current situation, there was a meeting last year to ensure the repatriation of displaced people. But at that time the fighting in Loikaw [Township] was very intense, so it wasn’t safe for us to return. The abbot allowed us to continue sheltering in his monastery, so we are still here. Many displaced people have no home to return to because their houses were burned down. Now, many are struggling to survive.”

Karenni resistance forces launched Operation 1111 on 11 November 2023, with the aim of capturing Loikaw City, the capital of Karenni State. Though resistance forces now control Loikaw Township outside Loikaw City, the junta still controls Loikaw City and resistance forces are still fighting to take the city.

Because of the fighting due to Operation 1111, many residents of Loikaw City and Loikaw Township have been forced to flee from their homes to other towns and townships. Those who could not afford to leave have been forced to take refuge in forested areas of Loikaw Township.

Among those displaced, the elderly and those with chronic conditions, such as heart problems, are suffering the most.