Kyaukme children fear going back to school in war zone
Some 300 students do not want to go back to school
in their village of Tawsarng, Kyaukme Township, as they fear being caught in
the crossfire of fighting between ethnic factions in the area, according to a
local MP from the Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy (SNLD).
Sai Tun Ngan, the SNLD representative
for Kyaukme Township Constituency No 2, said that even though the school in
Tawsarng village has re-opened, the children do not want to return.
“Nobody can predict the situation
here,” he said. “The kids are worried that they will have to evacuate the
school again and run away.”
These children are among hundreds
of families forced to flee their homes as hostilities intensified recently between
the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Restoration Council of Shan
State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) after clashes broke out in November last year.
Some became displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering in camps, while others have fled
the country to seek livelihoods elsewhere.
Shan Herald reported on September 13 that representatives of both ethnic militias had met in Chiang
Mai, northern Thailand, to try to thrash out a solution.
However, clashes between the two armed groups are ongoing,
according to the
TNLA’s News and Information Department on September 25.
The most recent bout of hostilities, it reported, has been taking place in the
village of Manmai in Mantong Township.
According to Mai Aik Tun, a teacher from an IDP
shelter in Metha Oo Way, many children are developing mental health problems
due to the trauma of war.
“Actually, they do want to go back to their
village and study at school,” he said. “But they are afraid because they do not
feel protected.”
By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)
Tags: Human Rights, News
