IDP resettlement programmes to restart in Kayah State
IDP resettlement programmes to restart in Kayah State
Mizzima News, 18 Nov 2014
URL: http://www.mizzima.com/mizzima-news/myanmar/item/14911-idp-resettlement-programmes-to-restart-in-kayah-state
Myanmar’s government and the Karenni National Progressive Party have joined forces to commence the construction of a village that will act as a model for a wider resettlement programme for internally displaced persons affected by the long-term civil war in Kayah State, reports the Kantarawaddy Times.
The budget for building the village, on the eastern bank of the Salween River where the Melayu River flows into the Salween in Has Taw Township, was approved on March 31, 2014, but building could only begin in September.
Khu Plureh, head of KNPP’s Loikaw Liaison Office told Kantarawaddy Times: “The village was due for completion in September, but problems with the transportation of materials caused delays to the project.”
The village building and resettlement programme was agreed upon by the KNPP and government during a meeting of the parties in November 2013. Other projects to provide jobs and long-term livelihoods for internally displaced people are also in the pipeline.
On the issue of security for the villages, Khu Plureh said: “We cleared the mines and the land for the houses with a bulldozer,” he said, but “we cannot give any guarantees if a nationwide ceasefire agreement is not signed.”
Figures from the Karenni Refugee Committee suggest there are about 15,000 Karenni refugees living as displaced people on the Myanmar side of the Thai-Myanmar border.
The budget for building the village, on the eastern bank of the Salween River where the Melayu River flows into the Salween in Has Taw Township, was approved on March 31, 2014, but building could only begin in September.
Khu Plureh, head of KNPP’s Loikaw Liaison Office told Kantarawaddy Times: “The village was due for completion in September, but problems with the transportation of materials caused delays to the project.”
The village building and resettlement programme was agreed upon by the KNPP and government during a meeting of the parties in November 2013. Other projects to provide jobs and long-term livelihoods for internally displaced people are also in the pipeline.
On the issue of security for the villages, Khu Plureh said: “We cleared the mines and the land for the houses with a bulldozer,” he said, but “we cannot give any guarantees if a nationwide ceasefire agreement is not signed.”
Figures from the Karenni Refugee Committee suggest there are about 15,000 Karenni refugees living as displaced people on the Myanmar side of the Thai-Myanmar border.