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Myanmar

Mergui-Tavoy District Situation Update: Education and healthcare challenges, travel restrictions, food shortages, and livelihood difficulties in Ler K'Saw Township (January to April 2025)

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This Situation Update describes events occurring in Ler K’Saw Township, Mergui-Tavoy District, during the period between January and April 2025, including land disputes, healthcare and education difficulties, and livelihood challenges. In Sa Tein village tract, several schools administered by the State Administration Council (SAC) closed after teachers left the area, as they feared armed resistance groups would kill people accused of collaborating with the SAC in the area. In response, villagers reopened the schools as community self-funded schools. However, parents faced difficulties in paying teachers’ salaries. Also in Sa Tein village tract, healthcare services remained inaccessible, with only one clinic available in the village tract and high treatment costs at SAC-administered hospitals in towns. Villagers facing income difficulties also experienced discrimination in SAC-administered hospitals. Nighttime travel restrictions imposed by several armed groups further limited access to urgent medical care. In April 2025, across Ler K’Saw Township, the SAC imposed strict restrictions on the transport and sale of food, causing severe food shortages in villages. Additionally, the SAC limited the amount of petrol that villagers could buy, making it harder for many to earn an income. A land dispute also took place in Rw--- village, Sa Tein village tract, as a local villager, with support from a former village authority, seized farmland from another villager. Due to militarisation and the armed conflict, local authorities have not been able to travel to the area and resolve the dispute.1