Over 30,000 displaced civilians face severe food shortages in Burma

NAYPYIDAW, Burma (MNTV) — More than 30,000 people displaced by fighting in western Burma’s Rakhine State are facing severe food shortages and inadequate healthcare as military blockades and continuing clashes prevent humanitarian supplies from reaching communities in Kyaukphyu District.

About 5,100 displaced people sheltering across Kyaukphyu and Ramree townships are in particularly urgent need of assistance, according to local relief organization Zinchaung Youth, Burma News International reported.

Relief workers estimate that providing rice to those 5,100 people alone requires about 10,200 bushels each month, costing approximately 163.2 million Burmese kyat ($42,000) at current market rates.

Humanitarian access has been severely disrupted by fighting between Burma’s military junta and Arakan Army (AA) along the Kyaukphyu-Sane-Ramree road, while military restrictions on land and water routes into Rakhine have further constrained movement of essential supplies.

Blockades have also pushed up prices of staples, including rice and cooking oil, worsening food insecurity among families already driven from their homes by conflict.

“Food is the most urgent need because people must eat every day, but displaced families also lack essential medicines, basic household goods, and school supplies for children,” an official from Zinchaung Youth said while appealing for emergency donor assistance.

Continuing military airstrikes and artillery attacks have forced residents of surrounding villages to flee repeatedly, with displaced families seeking protection in monasteries, forests and makeshift camps.

Healthcare has become another critical concern. Transport restrictions and shortages of medical personnel have left displaced communities with limited access to basic treatment, particularly affecting children, older people and pregnant women.

Humanitarian conditions in Kyaukphyu form part of a wider crisis in Rakhine, where years of armed conflict and restrictions on movement and aid have left civilian communities increasingly dependent on local relief networks.

Kyaukphyu is strategically significant because it lies on Bay of Bengal and hosts major infrastructure connecting Burma with China. Fighting around district has intensified as Arakan Army seeks to expand its control across Rakhine while military junta attempts to retain strategically important areas.

For displaced families caught between fighting and military restrictions, however, prolonged disruption of supply routes is turning displacement into a growing struggle for food, medicine and other basic necessities.