Myanmar: Aid for displaced children and war victims

A brutal civil war has been raging in Myanmar since 2021. Even hospitals, schools, and refugee camps are being targeted by bullets and bombs. Terre des Hommes partner organization, KNWO*, provides displaced children in the east of the country with essential supplies.

Karenni/Kayah State, Eastern Myanmar, February 7, 2024: Fighter jets belonging to the military junta open fire on two school buildings. Four children are killed by bombs and machine gun fire, and ten others are injured.

Death, fear, and constant threat are a horrific reality for the children of Myanmar. Since the military, the "Tatmadaw," seized power in a coup in 2021, the country has been engulfed in open civil war. More than 50,000 people have been killed, and approximately three million have been displaced. Most are internally displaced, often fleeing to makeshift refugee camps far from any infrastructure.

Civilians become targets

Safe places are scarce. The front lines are unclear: various regional resistance organizations attack the Tatmadaw with guerrilla tactics – the junta responds with indiscriminate violence, often failing to distinguish between civilians and combatants.

“In the villages around Loikaw, people’s houses are frequently burned down, and heavy weapons are used, even against the camps of displaced people,” reports Maw Byar Mar Oo. She is the coordinator of Terre des Hommes partner organization KNWO. Originally founded as a women’s rights organization, KNWO has focused on providing emergency aid to children and young people in Karenni State since the outbreak of the war: Maw Byar Mar Oo and her colleagues distribute food and hygiene products and offer music, sports, dance, and games so that the children can leave the images of war behind them for a while.

KNWO is one of the few organizations still operating here. "Three years after the coup, there are fewer and fewer organizations that can provide aid to displaced people. At the same time, the need is increasing dramatically. These children need psychological support, they need food and medical care, and they want to go to school."

Maw Byar Mar Oo hopes that one day they will be able to return to a more peaceful life. Although she knows it won't be that simple: "Most of those who fled their villages can't just go back. Because the army has laid landmines there."