Now, more than ever, Burmese yearn for peace.
Because the huge impact of the war was carried by every Burmese.
In some areas of tension, the entire village has been emptied as fighting broke out. People face enormous difficulties in food, clothing, shelter and transportation.
The village of Loi An, which leads to the towns of Kyaukme and Naoqiu, used to be inhabited by hundreds of people, but now there are fewer than 10 families living in the village. The village's roads are overgrown with weeds and the arable land is left unattended.
Since last year, the three armed forces of the North and South Shan State Army and the Deang Army have been fighting one after another, and the village of Loi An has been affected by the fighting, the walls are full of bullet holes, the roofs of some houses have been blown out of huge holes by shells, and the houses at the end of the village have been burned to ashes.
The clothes and belongings scattered by the villagers as they fled were readily available, there were no monks in the village's monastery, and trenches were dug near the monastery by armed men. A soldier of the Northern Shan State Army said that the trenches had been dug by the Southern Shan State Army before, and that the stronghold had now been occupied by the Northern Shan State Army.
Although many people in the village have fled, Lway Than Htay and her children still live in the village and live in fear every day.
Lway Than Htay said he was scared to see strangers approaching. In June 2021, the Southern Shan State Army (RCSS) was stationed in the village, while the Deang Army and the Northern Shan State Army were on the east side of the village. When the war broke out, there was a lot of artillery fire, and we had to hide at home. After a day and a night of fighting, the next day the war stopped, and my husband and I ran outside with our three children in tow, taking care of nothing, for fear that in another minute the war would start again.
Lway Than Htay said it felt like life was running. Went out and hid for a while, and when I got home, the house was in a mess. Other people in the village also wanted to come back, but there was no food in the village and many houses were bombed, so not everyone could come back.
Lway Than Htay said that because of the fighting, three or four nearby villages were also emptied, and there was basically no one in the village. The nearby tea plantations have also become desolate because there is no one to pick tea.
After the signing of the National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) in 2015, the Southern Shan State Army (RCSS) began to move north, establishing a number of bases in the northern shan state. The TNLA and the Northern Shan State Army (SSPP) viewed the South Shan State Army's northward movement as an act of aggression. In 2021, the TNLA and the Northern Shan State Army (SSPP) formed a coalition and clashed fiercely with the Southern Shan State Army (RCSS).
According to statistics, since January 2021, nearly 30,000 people in northern Shan State have been displaced by refugees, and as of now, many refugees have not yet returned home.
Villagers said that although the war has now subsided for the time being, our troubles are not over. There had been months of fighting, and the armed forces had planted mines in many places, and we were worried about being injured by mines.
The village of Tozan, north of Kyaukme, with more than 230 houses, was once a beautiful little village where villagers also earned their income from tea, and every household built a two-storey house. The village also has a large market, a public secondary school and a monastery.
One villager said that before the war, the village was prosperous. I have lived in the village for more than 20 years. Now, the gates of every house in the village are locked, there is silence, and from time to time armed personnel can be seen patrolling the streets. After the outbreak of the war, many villagers have fled to kyaukme town to take refuge. The armed forces set up camps in the hills near the village, and some soldiers were even stationed in the village's houses.
Villager Nang Mo said that I used to sell noodles in the village and the business was good. But now, there are basically not many people in the village, about 10 households. From time to time, you can see some cats, dogs and dogs on the street, waiting for the owner to come home. Although there was no fighting in the village, there was always an atmosphere of terror.
A villager revealed that some young people in the village were recruited into armed soldiers, and armed training certificates could be seen in some houses. For the families of these conscripted soldiers, they did not dare to go home.
According to Shan media reports, from January to March this year, 13 people were killed and more than 30 injured in Shan State due to landmines and war remnants. Deang forces have responded that they are trying to find ways to clear the mines and remnants of war.
As a result of the outbreak of fighting, many villagers in Shan State have struggled to make ends meet.
Before the pandemic, 18-year-old Mai Tun Aye attended a technical school in Mandalay. When the outbreak broke out and the school closed, Mai Tun Aye returned home to work in the tea plantation with her family.
The Mai Tun Aye family owns a two-storey house and a tea plantation. Before the conflict broke out, the family could rely on the tea plantation to earn money to support themselves. After the outbreak of war, everything changed. Mai Tun Aye and her family fled to Kyaukme to hide.
Mai Tun Aye said that in the beginning, we spent three months in a refugee camp, where there were a lot of people and the number of refugees was increasing. After that, we left and rented a house in Kyaukme with our savings. But with no job and no source of income, the family faces enormous pressure to survive.
Lway Than Htay's family faced roughly the same situation as Tun Aye. Without money, her husband went to Kokang to find a job. She and her children left Kyaukme and managed to return to pan lot village.
"I never dreamed that the family would be separated. If there is no war, we don't have to face this situation," she said. "It's all because of the war!"