SW News: In Myanmar’s conflict-hit Kachin state, more than 1,000 Catholic and Baptist believers have been forced to flee from Nan San Yang village because of intense fighting between the military and armed rebels. Fighting erupted in that area as the village is the base of the Kachin Independence Army fighters who want self-rule and autonomy for the Christian-majority region.

Fighting between troops of the junta and the Kachin rebels began on July 3 and the displaced people have been forced to take shelter on the premises of the Catholic church in Wai Mai town. Speaking to UCA News, a villager said that more people are likely to flee as the violence is still continuing.

As most of them fled with just a few suits of clothes and nothing else, there is mounting concern about who will help them survive in the days to come. There is a need for adequate food, medicines and educational facilities for the children. The Vicar of Nam San Yang Fr Vincent Shan Lum escaped with his parishioners and he is of the belief that they might have to reside on the premises of the church for a few weeks as tensions remain.

The priest said that it is not the first time that villagers were forced to leave Nam San Yang. The violence forced them to seek safety in June 2011 when fighting between the soldiers and the Kachin fighters intensified. They had to spend years in the camps for displaced people in Wai Maw before finally returning home in 2018.

The Kachin fighters told a local news outlet that more fighting is expected if the junta troops do not retreat. The armed group also said people need to stock food supplies. In camps across the state, more than 100,000 people are residing since 2011, as per estimates of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.