EXCLUSIVE FROM BURMA: 80% of the Population Displaced by War

 

Eighty percent of the population of Burma’s Karenni State has been displaced by government bombing and attacks by the Burma army. There is almost no international support for internally displaced people and no help from the UN. Photo by Antonio Graceffo

Across Burma (Myanmar), it is now estimated that as many as 4 million people have been displaced by war. According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), “12 million people in Myanmar will face acute hunger in 2026, with a projected one million people hitting emergency levels that will require lifesaving assistance.”

And yet they do nothing. Almost no international or government-to-government aid reaches the resistance-controlled territories in Burma, where the bulk of the displaced people are living.

In Karenni State, internally displaced people attend church under a plastic tarp. It is encouraging to see that they have not lost their faith. The church is doing what it can, with limited funds, to support the poorest families in the camp. Photo courtesy of Antonio Graceffo

 

This is just one of countless internally displaced persons camps where much of the state’s population is now housed. More than 300 people are living in bamboo and plastic huts.

Many of them come from a village just a mile and a half away, but they were forced to flee when government forces invaded, indiscriminately raping and killing civilians.

Although the resistance eventually retook the area, the villagers still could not return home. When the Burma army retreated, it filled the ground with landmines.

Homes and churches, in particular, were booby-trapped with tripwires and explosives. In 2024, UNICEF reported that more than 27 percent of casualties from explosive ordnance were minors.

The Karenni Nationalities Defence Force (KNDF) and the Karenni civilian government, the Interim Executive Council (IEC), want to demine the liberated zones.

However, this is proving extremely difficult. The quantity of mines and unexploded ordnance left behind by the Burma army could take years to clear under the best of circumstances.

These are not the best of circumstances. International demining volunteer organizations generally refuse to operate in active war zones.

This means the KNDF would have to carry out the demining themselves. However, landmine detectors are very expensive and nearly impossible to transship through third countries.

The best demining machines and vehicles cost tens of thousands of dollars, which the KNDF does not have. They also lack trained personnel.

One option that has been discussed is sending KNDF soldiers to Europe or the United States for training with one of the mine NGOs. However, this is problematic, as most people living in the liberated zones do not have passports.

To obtain one, they would have to return to a government-controlled area, where they would almost certainly be arrested or conscripted into the government army, the same army that is killing civilians and laying landmines.

Church service in an internally displaced person’s camp. Photo by Antonio Graceffo

Most of Karenni State has no electricity, cell service, or Wi-Fi. Conditions in the camp are even worse. With no river or stream nearby, water must be purchased and delivered by truck, but most families have no income at all.

Because the UN, the World Food Programme, and most large donors do not provide support in resistance-controlled areas, the camp has no consistent ration distribution.

Residents receive a small amount of food from the Karenni civilian government, the Interim Executive Council (IEC), and some assistance from individual donors. But the IEC has no significant tax base, as almost everyone in the state needs aid and few can afford to pay taxes.

The church helps as well, but it has very limited funds, only a few hundred dollars per month from private donors and informal funding channels through churches in other countries.

Because he cannot help everyone, the priest said he prioritizes the worst-off families, mostly single mothers with children.

There is farmland around the camp, but it is privately owned, so the people living there cannot grow food. As a result, they have almost nothing.

Camp residents cook over open fires, but there are no trees left to cut down, so they must purchase firewood, one more financial burden, making life nearly unlivable. Photo by Antonio Graceffo

The UN-recommended caloric intake for a displaced person is roughly equivalent to one sack of rice per month. In the best camps in Karenni, residents receive one sack per family per month. In most camps, including this one, families receive roughly one sack every three months.

To make matters worse, because the camps have no UN protection, they are regularly targeted by government air and drone strikes.

It is ironic that the statistics on displacement and hunger come from the UN, yet the UN refuses to help.

At the same time, the Burma army can import unlimited quantities of ammunition, landmines, and drones from Russia and China, while resistance forces are legally prevented from importing drone jammers and mine detectors.

It is also frustrating that NGOs that portray themselves as providing relief in war zones will not actually enter war zones, instead treating patients or assisting refugees who flee to other countries.

All of these factors combined mean that the people who need help most are not receiving it.

Antonio Graceffo reporting from Karenni State, Burma