Not all Kachin IDPs can get WFP assistance

22 June 2018
Not all Kachin IDPs can get WFP assistance
A mother feeding her baby at a refugee camp in Kachin State. Photo: Mizzima

Some IDPs said that not all of them could get financial assistance provided by World Food Programme (WFP) as they provided this assistance based on the number of IDPs in each camp in Kachin State.
Currenlty WFP gives IDPs in Kachin State 10,000 kyats per month each. They give financial assistance to IDPs based on the numbers found in each camp during their visit and not on the list of actual households in the camps. Jar Nan from Jan Mai Khawm IDP camp said.
Bauk Jar from the IDP camp said that they had to work outside the camp as the financial assistance given by WFP was not enough for costs for education of their children and other costs.
Jan Mai IDP camp In-charge Rev. Htwai Aung said that fathers in families and adults in IDP camps have to work outside their camps such as Phakant, Tanai and China. Some of these workers reportedly became the victims of human trafficking gangs.
Advocate Dwe Bu said, “Some adolescent girls have become the victims of human trafficking gangs when they sought jobs.”
Currently there are over 100,000 IDPs in Kachin State out of which over 40,000 are in government controlled areas.