NMSP Requests Food Support for Locals in Their Territory

NMSP Requests Food Support for Locals in Their Territory

By NETWORK MEDIA GROUP (NMG)
Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Villagers in territory controlled by the New Mon State Party (NMSP) have been struggling to meet their food needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, NMSP representatives said.

Nai Banyar Lel, who is working with the NMSP’s COVID-19 Control and Response Committee, said that people in in NMSP-controlled areas in Mon State and Tanintharyi Region have gotten assistance from their respective governments, but people in NMSP areas of Karen State have not.

“Local people in Kyainseikgyi Township [in Karen State] are especially struggling for food. There are 24 villages in the Taung Pauk area of Kyaikseikgyi. Both ethnic Mon and Karen people live in the area,” Nai Banyar Lel told NMG.

The NMSP is currently trying to compile a list of families in their territory in Karen State in order to seek aid from domestic and international humanitarian organizations to support this population.

The Mon State government provided 15,000 kyat (US$11) each to 3,500 families in the NMSP-controlled area of Ye Chaung Pyar, and the Tanintharyi regional government did the same for 400 families in Yephyu Township, Nai Banyar Lel explained.

He added that this amount was not sufficient to meet the families’ needs, but that it provided some relief.

The NMSP hopes that the Karen State government will follow suit in providing assistance to people the NMSP’s territory within the state, Nai Banyar Lel said.

The NMSP is one of 10 ethnic armed organizations signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the Burmese military and government.