Written By Lin Khine

A woman named Ma Khin Khin is holding her newborn baby close to her chest, anxiously watching and monitoring the movements of the junta troops.

When there’s no sign of junta soldiers around, they sneak down to the riverbank, planning to escape across the river by motorboat to a safer area on the other side.

Due to the ongoing brutal acts of the junta arresting, beating, imprisoning, and killing civilians, including women and children — people are desperately trying to flee from Sittwe town.

Ma Khin Khin and others had to head down to the riverbank around 2 a.m., taking their prepared belongings with them while there were no junta troops in the vicinity.

Since using the docks could lead to getting caught and beaten by the junta soldiers, they had to sneak quietly through the dense, swampy mangrove forest, hiding as they made their way to the waiting motorboat.

“If the junta troops find us with our belongings, they arrest and beat us,” said Ma Khin Khin.

Even after reaching the motorboat, they were too afraid to start the engine, fearing the junta soldiers stationed at the edge of the village might notice. So, they had to paddle quietly instead of using the motor.

“We had to paddle all the way across to the sandy bank on the other side. If we ran into a military navy patrol, we could get shot,” Ma Khin Khin said.

There were more than ten people on the small motorboat with Ma Khin Khin. As they paddled along the Kaladan River route, the waves were also rough, she added.

“If the boat sank, we’d die. If the junta troops shot at us, we’d die too that’s why we were so terrified,” Ma Khin Khin said.

She explained that while they were crossing the river amid the strong wind and waves, the junta troops stationed in Sittwe were continuously firing heavy weapons, making the situation even more frightening.

“We could see the red flashes from the artillery flying overhead, and we heard the gunfire too. That was when the fighting was happening near Ponnakyun Island,” Ma Khin Khin recounted.

They had to paddle for quite a while before they finally dared to start the Honda engine and continue their journey.

“We only felt a bit of relief after reaching the other side of the river,” Ma Khin Khin said.

Ma Khin Khin is from a village near Sittwe. When the junta began raiding, arresting, and displacing people from villages around Sittwe, she was already carrying her second child in her womb.

Now nine months pregnant, Ma Khin Khin had been hoping to wait just one more month, give birth, and then plan her escape from Sittwe.

But the situation no longer allowed for that.

In Ma Khin Khin’s village, Kyaetaw, only three or four families remained, including hers. The surrounding villages had also become deserted — everyone had already fled due to the junta’s attacks.

Because of this, Ma Khin Khin was forced to make the difficult decision to have a cesarean section to deliver her baby, even though she still had about a month left before her due date.

“I was waiting to give birth, but there was no one left in the village. So I consulted with a nurse and decided to have a C-section. By the time we fled, my baby was only a week old,” Ma Khin Khin said.

Ma Khin Khin said she was worried that if she went into labor on the way while fleeing Sittwe, without proper medical support, it could be dangerous for both her and the baby. She also feared that if the place they fled to didn’t have a hospital or clinic, giving birth would be very difficult.

“We fled to this side because we didn’t want to be killed by junta soldiers. At the very least, we have a chance to survive here. We came knowing anything could happen,” said Ma Khin Khin’s mother-in-law, who escaped along with them.

Ma Khin Khin and her family fled from Sittwe at the end of February 2024 and reached a village in Pauktaw Township, located on the eastern bank of the Kaladan River, to seek refuge.

The motorboat that Ma Khin Khin and her family hired dropped them off in a village where they had no relatives or acquaintances — a place they had never been to before. It was there that they had to figure out where to settle.

They ended up staying in a building arranged by local villagers. Without proper blankets or enough warm clothing, Ma Khin Khin and her family had to endure the biting cold of the winter season.

“We didn’t bring anything for ourselves. Everything we packed was for the baby. All we could think about was the baby,” Ma Khin Khin said.

Fleeing from the threat of the military junta, Ma Khin Khin and her family arrived in a liberated area only to be faced with a new struggle: the hardship of daily survival.

At first, they received no support from aid organizations, and even when assistance eventually came, it wasn’t enough. The monthly cash support from the World Food Programme (WFP) for each family, she said, barely covered the cost of infant formula.

With the military junta blocking all trade and transportation routes between mainland Myanmar and Arakan, the price of baby essentials has skyrocketed — a single can of formula can cost up to 100,000 kyats, and a pack of ten diapers can go for around 60,000 kyats.

“A can of formula only lasts for about a week,” Ma Khin Khin said.

As a result, Ma Khin Khin’s husband, who had previously driven a three-wheeled vehicle in Sittwe, has been working various jobs such as wall painting, gardening, and labor work to support his family.

However, now that the WFP has cut off the refugee support funds, Ma Khin Khin and other displaced families from Arakan no longer receive any assistance.

“Sometimes I just feel like screaming and crying out loud,” Ma Khin Khin said, her voice breaking with emotion.

More than six hundred thousand displaced people in Arakan have been without any assistance for around four months now.

As a result, those who have no jobs, no regular income, and no savings are facing extreme hardship and are struggling to survive.

“If we have no food, we have to go around the villages asking for help. We rely on charity. We don’t have any work either,” said a displaced woman, who is living in Myaybon Township with her two children.

A woman in her early 30s, who has been sheltering in Kyauktaw Township with her family of four, said they are surviving by stretching one meal into two and alternating between hunger and minimal sustenance.

“We know we’ll be starving in the long run. We just try to fill our two children’s stomachs and eat whatever is left,” said the woman, who fled from Sittwe over a year ago.

Currently in Arakan, the price of one pyi (about 2 kg) of rough rice is around 3,000 kyats, quality paw hsan rice is about 4,000 kyats per pyi, a liter of cooking oil is around 10,000 kyats, one viss of meat costs about 40,000 kyats, and one viss of fish is around 20,000 kyats.

The Humanitarian and Development Cooperation Office (HDCO) under the Arakan People’s Revolutionary Government (APRG) has been providing financial assistance to certain internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Arakan who are facing serious challenges, especially those with medical needs. However, it is reported that their support is not yet comprehensive or far-reaching.

In addition, the APRG has been repeatedly appealing to international humanitarian organizations to extend assistance to the displaced people inside Arakan.

Due to the mass killings carried out by the junta troops, more than 79 civilians have lost their lives and over a hundred have been arrested, according to a displaced woman from Byine Phyu Village, Sittwe Township. She added that all the savings her family brought along are about to run out and once that happens, they will be facing starvation.

“There were battles in February and March, and by around April and May, it became too intense we had to flee completely,” said a woman from Byine Phyu Village, now sheltering in Pauktaw Township with her family of seven.

“The junta took everything from our house in Sittwe there’s nothing left. And here, we barely have anything to eat anymore.”

In Sittwe Township, sporadic clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the junta troops are still occurring, but no major ground battles have been reported so far.

The Arakan Army, which has declared its aim to seize full control of the entire Arakan region, has already taken over and is now administering nearly all parts of Arakan.

However, intense offensives have not yet been seen in Sittwe, Kyaukphru, and Manaung townships.

Military and political analysts say that, as the Arakan Army (AA) has repeatedly declared, it appears increasingly likely that the group will succeed in fully seizing control of the entire Arakan region.

Some displaced civilians who are struggling with food, shelter, and livelihoods amid the decisive Arakan conflict have expressed hope that once the AA fully controls the region, peace and stability will return.

“If we win this war and get back our Rakhine land, that would be better. They are fighting for our own Rakhine State. If Rakhine people win this fight, we can hope for peace and stability. That would be good,” said a displaced woman from Byain Phyu Village.