08 July 2016•Update: 11 July 2016
By Kyaw Ye Lynn
YANGON, Myanmar
At least ten thousand people have been displaced by flooding in northern parts of Myanmar’s western Rakhine state.
Triggered by days of torrential rains, the floods affected 6,100 people in Minbya Township, 2,828 in Kyauktaw Township, 2,527 in Mrauk U Township and 2,900 in Ann Township, according to the ministry of information website Friday.
Displaced residents took shelter at monasteries, homes and elevated places.
“These areas are said to be affected by floods in July every year,” the secretary of Rakhine’s regional government, Tin Maung Swe, was quoted as saying.
“Relief aid including dry rations, drinking water and family kits which have been supplied by the Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Department have been sent to people,” he said.
The severe flooding has forced more than 400 schools to suspend classes in Rakhine, according to official media Friday.
Shwe Saw Maung, an officer at Minbya’s office of education, said 204 schools in the township remained submerged.
“I still can’t say for sure yet when they will reopen. The volume of damage caused by the flooding is still unknown,” he added.
A non-governmental organization, Plan International Myanmar, reported Thursday that 12,200 people were displaced in over 41 villages across the state.
The children’s rights organization said in a statement that it is providing life-saving food and water to displaced communities in Minbya, and is working in close cooperation with the local township authority.
“During and after a disaster, children are particularly vulnerable, and can experience stress and have reduced access to food, water and shelter,” said the NGO’s business development manager, Enrico Rampazzo.
“We are committed to ensuring children are safe and protected and their families are supported during this time.”
Rakhine, the second poorest state in Myanmar, was among the provinces most severely impacted by widespread flooding last year, with the landfall of Cyclone Komen bookended by weeks of heavy rains.
As the flooding left more than 50 people dead in Rakhine in 2015, rights group Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK had claimed that the state and central governments had supplied aid and relief to ethnic Rakhine residents while the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority “were totally neglected”.
