ICC Note: Kachin state minister Khet Aung told more than 2000 displaced Kachin villagers forced to leave their homes that they can return home, while the army from both sides dispute such claim and ask them to stay away. The ongoing fighting between the military and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) forced many villagers to flee and hide in the jungles.

04/19/2018 Myanmar (Radio Free Asia) – Some 2,000 civilians in Myanmar’s war-torn Kachin state trapped in Tanaing township amid fighting between the national army and an ethnic militia are free to return home to their village, which has been cleared by the military, Kachin Chief Minister Khet Aung told RFA’s Myanmar Service on Thursday.

Myanmar’s army, meanwhile, told the villagers they cannot remain in Tanaing and would be forcibly returned to Awng Lat village, which they fled after fighting raged last week, according to The Irrawaddy online newspaper.

More than 2,000 ethnic Kachin villagers in Tanaing township have been homeless since April 11 after fleeing to nearby jungles to escape fighting between the military and Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

“The Command Commander of Northern Military Head Quarters has informed me that fleeing villagers from Awng Lawt Village can return home, as the military has cleared it and the village becomes normal,” Khet Aung told RFA in an interview.

“The state government and Red Cross members have begun our trip to the villagers with food and medicines,” the minister added.

According to The Irrawaddy, the army ordered the villagers to leave while offering them help getting home.

“We will not allow an IDP (internally displaced persons) camp for villagers who fled fighting in Awng Lawt village to open in the town. You must all go back and stay in your village,” said the news outlet, quoting a military announcement in Tanaing.

“We announce that we will offer all necessary assistance to enable you to resettle in your village,” the army said.

A spokesman for the KIA, however, disputed the safety claims made by the military and state minister. He said the army and KIA had deployed troops on the road from Tanaing to Awng Lawt village and were engaged in daily clashes.

“If they come back, the situation is not safe for them, as it is a war zone. There is no guarantee that local people will be safe,” The Irrawaddy quoted the KIA spokesman, Col Naw Bu, as saying.

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