Desk Report :
About 1,300 Paletwa villagers of Myanmar’s Chin State have crossed to India to escape a renewed fighting between the Tatmadaw Myanmar Army and rebel Arakan Army (AA).
Men, women and children have taken refuge in four remote villages in mountainous southern Mizoram State and are receiving shelter and relief from the local administration, according to media reports.
The Press Trust of India (PTI) reported that the displaced villagers are currently being sheltered in Lawngtlai district of Mizoram.
“The people who crossed over on Friday are mostly Buddhists and Christians and speak the same tribal language as the locals,” PTI reported.
The news report cited a local official saying that this marks the fourth time in recent months that families have streamed across the border due to fighting between the AA and the Tatmadaw.
Police chief Langsanglura of the Indian Lawngtlai District, which borders Paletwa, said 1300 tribespeople from Myanmar have taken refuge in his area to escape the fighting between the AA and the Tatmadaw. “Around 1300 men, women and children have taken refuge in four villages of Lawngtlai district (in southern Mizoram) on Saturday night,” Indian newspaper The Hindu quoted Langsanglura as saying.
“The Myanmar (people) fled their homes after the army clashed with the outlawed ‘Arakan Army’ militant outfit cadres last week. As the armed clashes continue, we will not push back the refugees on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
According to Arakan Army’s official Facebook page, the fighting has intensified in the areas on the border between Rakhine and Chin States.
Hostilities between the AA and the Tatmadaw were revived in late October after a prolonged period of détente. Both sides engaged in sporadic clashes throughout 2016.
In one of the most serious encounters, a report earlier this month said at least 11 members of the Tatmadaw were killed and 14 injured in a clash with the Arakan Army near Paletwa.
The casualties occurred when the AA fired on a boat on the Kaladan River, the Irrawaddy reported on November 9, quoting Pyithu Hluttaw MP U Thaung Aye Union Solidarity and Development Party, Pyawbwe), a retired Tatmadaw lieutenant-general.
The report said fighting between the two sides had escalated since the first week of November, with clashes in two villages north of Paletwa on November 8.
There have also been reports of recent fighting between the two sides in northern Rakhine.
The AA has become increasingly active in Rakhine and Chin in recent years, with frequent clashes with the Tatmadaw.
Formed in 2008, the AA is a Rakhine insurgent group and ally of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which has trained about half of its troops. Although it has temporary headquarters in KIA-controlled areas, its operational areas include Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Myinbya in Rakhine, as well as around Paletwa.
