Jun 11, 2008 (DVB)–Cyclone victims currently sheltering in temporary camps in Bogalay township were forced out of their camps by local troops, refugees told a DVB reporter who recently visited the area.
One cyclone victim said the refugees were given a few supplies and ordered to leave the camps.
“We were given one plastic sheet for each family, five packs of noodle for each person, some beans and a small bottle of cooking oil,” he said.
“Then the commander said, ‘We have given you your travel needs, so get out and go home!’ We all had to pack our stuff and run away.”
DVB’s reporter also found out that while in the camps refugees had to provide unpaid labour to carry relief supplies that were intended for them but which they never received.
The cyclone victims said that local authorities had confiscated all the valuable and tasty food supplies such as biscuits and tanned fish.
“We had to carry iron boxes but I don’t know what was inside. We also had to carry condensed milk, raw milk, tanned meat, snacks and so on that I had never seen or tasted in all my 47 years, but we never received them,” said the victim.
“Out of the international aid we were given, the local army unit took all the tents and food supplies.”
Reporting by Moe Aye
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