Families desperately need aid after a fire destroyed many homes in the largest displaced camp in the Kachin Independence Organisation’s (KIO) area of Kachin State.
“We have been living in this camp for over 10 years and it feels like our home and our village,” said one man who lost all his property. “It’s really difficult to rebuild our house—we need financial support.”
The fire, which broke out at 3:15am on Sunday, has affected 180 people, including 20 children and 5 senior citizens living in 36 houses in Jeyang internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Laiza, the KIO headquarters.
“We immediately ran away from the huge flames and couldn’t take anything with us,” said another man who also lost everything in the blaze. He hopes that the KIO, civil societies and other donors can help them.
For now, the victims are being housed in the camp’s primary and secondary schools until other arrangements can be made.
“The camp committee met last night, but it is still unclear whether they will help the victims of the fire to rebuild their houses,” said another man. For now, everyone has enough to eat and a place to sleep.
There are more than 1,500 houses in the 6 zones of the IDP camp. The fire destroyed the houses in Zone 6, Section B, where there were 100, within 15 minutes.
