Intense conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has led to an increase in the number of severely injured civilians, even as aid organisations stop work in the region and services for the disabled decline.
By ANT PWEH AUNG | FRONTIER
Ma Nwe Nwe Win was eating lunch at home with her family when two fighter jets dove out of the sky.
A bomb tore through the flimsy bamboo wall of the house and exploded, killing her father and brother, and severely burning her mother. The 21-year-old was knocked unconscious, and woke a few hours later to find that she had been transported from Nyaung Kan village to a small hospital in nearby Myebon town.
Due to the severity of her injuries, Nwe Nwe Win was transferred to Mrauk-U Hospital about 80 kilometres to the north, and then again to Taungup Hospital, requiring another gruelling journey of about 300 kilometres by boat to southern Rakhine State.
Three days after the March bombing, Nwe Nwe Win finally began receiving hospital care. But it was too late to save her damaged limbs – doctors amputated her left arm above the elbow, and her left leg below the knee. After 12 days recovering in Taungup Hospital, she was discharged, but the deteriorating security situation prompted Nwe Nwe Win and her mother to relocate to Myebon town.
While her mother now earns a living selling traditional Rakhine snacks like steamed glutinous rice and bein mont pancakes, Nwe Nwe Win is unable to contribute to the family’s income due to her injuries. She has received no outside help, and feels that her dream of attending Sittwe University is now beyond reach.
“My disability has left me unable to work,” Nwe Nwe Win tearfully told Frontier. “Despite being alive, I feel my life has lost its purpose. My dreams and aspirations have vanished.”
Nwe Nwe Win is among the growing number of civilians who have been permanently disabled since an informal ceasefire between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army collapsed in November last year.
But even as the number of severely injured civilians has risen, many aid organisations working in Rakhine have reduced or even stopped their services due to safety concerns, lack of funding and other complications caused by the conflict. The public healthcare system is also in disarray, and while the AA has tried to roll out parallel public services, they’re not yet fully functioning.
Daw Htwe May, secretary of the Rakhine State Disabilities Organization, told Frontier that disabled individuals in Rakhine have faced “immense hardships” from the fighting. These include issues with food security and the destruction of their homes by airstrikes and artillery, forcing them to seek refuge in displacement camps.
“Regrettably, there are few organisations supporting people with disabilities in Rakhine State,” she said. “There’s also a pressing need for psychosocial support to address their psychological trauma but, unfortunately, such services aren’t available.”
Surveying the damage
While the number of disabled people has clearly risen across Rakhine since the return of war, there are no reliable statewide statistics. Rakhine has been wracked by conflict for years, escalating in 2018 before a ceasefire was agreed in 2020, which has since broken down multiple times. In the latest round of fighting, the AA has seized huge swathes of territory from the military, which has been overstretched by widespread, sustained armed resistance since seizing power in a 2021 coup.
The RSDO has released numbers from an ongoing survey to assess the number of individuals with disabilities caused by the conflict since November last year. Eight out of Rakhine’s 17 townships have already been surveyed, Htwe May said, adding that the organisation aims to eventually survey “every township affected by violence”.
As of September 15, the survey identified 817 disabled civilians – 522 male and 295 female – divided into three categories: among those counted, 450 have physical disabilities (including severe burns and lost limbs), 325 have hearing disabilities and 42 have visual disabilities. The injuries were caused by airstrikes, artillery attacks, small arms fire, landmines, unexploded ordnance and arson attacks.
The numbers were broken down by township: 246 in Mrauk-U, 119 in Minbya, 114 in Pauktaw, 90 in Kyauktaw, 87 in Myebon, 76 in Maungdaw, 47 in Ponnagyun and 38 in Buthidaung.
Of the 246 disabled individuals in Mrauk-U, 18 were Rohingya, while 21 Rohingya were among the 119 disabled in Minbya. The actual numbers are likely higher. The RSDO has been able survey some Rohingya villages in Minbya and Mrauk-U, but none in Buthidaung and Maungdaw, which are Rohingya-majority townships that have seen particularly brutal conflict in recent months.
Htwe May said challenges of data collection in conflict-affected areas include transportation difficulties and bad phone and internet connections. While they were able to conduct surveys in townships controlled by the AA, the “prevailing security situation” has so far prevented them from venturing into areas under the control of the junta.
“Also, due to limited financial resources, we are unable to allocate funds for travel expenses and phone bills to support our survey efforts,” she said. “Despite these challenges, we are committed to conducting surveys to the best of our ability.”
Shortage of support
The ultimate goal of the RSDO survey is not just to tally up figures, but to connect disabled individuals in Rakhine with NGOs that can provide support. But this isn’t possible at the moment because most NGOs have stopped working in the state.
In May, Rohingya woman Har Lar Julie, 49, lost both legs below the knee in an airstrike on Naw Naw village in Minbya Township. The attack also killed her husband.
“Unfortunately, there are no organisations providing assistance to people with disabilities in this area,” she said. “I’ve had to resort to begging for food.”
U Maung Phyu Hla, a member of a volunteer rescue group in Mrauk-U Township, said the conflict has made it dangerous to access injured patients.
“The internet blackout has further hampered our ability to deliver timely emergency social assistance,” he said.
Since before the military coup, the Yangon-based Shwe Minn Tha Foundation’s Sittwe branch office has focused on connecting disabled people with job opportunities. However, the group suspended its operations in Rakhine in January because of the conflict.
“We facilitate connections between individuals with disabilities seeking prostheses and relevant organisations,” said an official from the foundation. “However, the current circumstances have made it difficult to sustain our funding.”
Another social welfare foundation, which operates in Ponnagyun Township and requested not to be named for security reasons, reported a “significant number” of individuals with disabilities in the area who require support.
“We strive to provide food and medical assistance to those with disabilities to the best of our ability, but it is insufficient,” said Ko Tun Thein from the Ponnagyun foundation, who used a pseudonym to avoid being identified.
Ponnagyun Township boasted more than 30 social welfare organisations before last November but the number has dwindled to fewer than 10, he said. He added that the AA’s Humanitarian and Development Coordination Office has helped some disabled people in the township with prosthetic limbs and other support, but no other organisations are offering similar aid.
It’s not only local aid foundations that have been affected by the war. U Mrat Htwan, director of the Rakhine Human Rights Defenders’ Group, said international organisations previously provided prosthetic limbs to the disabled in Rakhine. However, those efforts have stopped since the resumption of hostilities.
“Prior to the conflict, Relief International collaborated with the [International Committee of the Red Cross] to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities,” he said. “However, these organisations appear to be stopping their aid efforts during this time of war.”
Relief International provides healthcare and education to IDPs. It pays medical expenses for civilians in Rakhine disabled by the conflict who can present recommendation letters signed by the hospital superintendent. However, the wait list is long and growing by the day.
Meanwhile, the ICRC has temporarily closed its physical rehabilitation centre in Sittwe for the safety of both the staff and the patients.
“The increasing lack of access to essential services and the difficulty for humanitarian action is having a serious impact both on the local population, by directly threatening their well-being, and on the ICRC’s ability to provide vital assistance,” an ICRC spokesperson told Frontier via email.
“Both the ICRC and our partner are exploring ways to resume services as soon as possible. In the meantime, the ICRC team in Sittwe continues to assess people with disabilities, provide mobility aids based on immediate needs, and establish a waiting list for prostheses.”
The ICRC’s rehabilitation programme assists people with physical disabilities, including those affected by explosives, by providing them physiotherapy and mobility aids.
“In addition, the service users also participate in psychosocial support activities while receiving support or training to start small businesses aimed at reintegrating them into society,” the spokesperson said.
Psychological trauma
Several organisations Frontier spoke with emphasised the need not only for physical support for the disabled but also for psychosocial support to help deal with the mental, emotional and social traumas associated with severe injury and loss of livelihoods, loved ones and property.
“Psychosocial support is also crucial for individuals with war-related disabilities to address their mental trauma,” said Tun Thein from the Ponnagyun social rescue group.
Now unable to work in Rakhine, the Yangon-based Shwe Minn Tha Foundation said it’s focusing on providing food support and psychosocial counselling to displaced people from Rakhine who have found refuge in Yangon.
But most of those in Rakhine have no such recourse. Among the many who have not received any psychosocial support is 41-year-old cleaner Daw Su Su Hlaing. She was relaxing with her husband in the courtyard of their house in Mrauk-U town on July 25 when a bomb dropped from a fighter jet landed nearby.
The explosion killed Su Su Hlaing’s husband, while she sustained multiple shrapnel wounds and burns across her body. She also suffered a broken right leg and lost several toes on her left foot. Her teenage daughter and son, who were in school at the time of the airstrike, disappeared and haven’t been heard from since. She doesn’t know if they fled the village or were killed in the bombardment.
She is now being cared for by a 62-year-old woman whom she met while they were both receiving treatment at Mrauk-U Hospital. Su Su Hlaing said she is recovering not only from severe physical pain but also from psychological wounds.
“The loss of my husband and the separation from my children have driven me to contemplate suicide,” she told Frontier. “The constant thoughts of my disabilities keep me awake at night.”
Htwe May from the RSDO said the already dire situation in Rakhine will only get worse as the conflict continues.
“The future is filled with uncertainty for all of us,” she said. “The number of disabled people will only continue to rise as the conflict persists.”
