Internally Displaced Persons’ Resilience: An Analysis of Southeast Myanmar Airstrike (Civil War) Survivors’ Experiences for Better Solutions of Humanitarian Aid Programs
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Abstract
This study investigates the experiences of internally displaced persons who are also airstrike survivors in Hpapun (Mutraw) District, Karen (Kayin) State, Myanmar. It highlights the importance of resilience and localized strategies used by IDPs, as well as the human rights challenges they encounter. The study uses a qualitative research design, including in-depth interviews with 10 IDPs from Hpapun District and 6 representatives from humanitarian aid organizations, with qualitative data analysis as the main analytical approach. The findings show that: (1) in the three domains of resilience—managing risks, adapting to change and securing basic needs—IDPs in Hpapun perceive their greatest weaknesses are in adapting to change and securing basic needs. In these areas, they are heavily dependent on outside players, especially religious leaders and humanitarian agencies, to sustain their resilience; (2) Most IDP participants are subjected to multiple human rights abuses, such as inadequate access to food, health care and education as well as sexual violence in displacement settings; and (3) Humanitarian and civil society groups that continue to be major providers of basic services despite the restrictions of military operations can improve IDPs’ resilience by providing them with practical survival skills and appropriate information for contingency planning, thereby improving their risk management ability.
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