Helping IDP kids in rebel-held Kachin

Children's laughter rings out from bamboo huts along the perimeter of the Lana Zup Ja camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in a part of Myanmar’s Kachin State controlled by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA): A group of pre-schoolers are playing in a plywood hut, seemingly oblivious to the squalid conditions surrounding them. Full report

More Reports

Landmine casualties rising in Kachin, Myanmar

LAIZA, 15 May 2013 (IRIN) - Former rebel fighter Lahpai Hkam has been in pain every day since a landmine destroyed his lower right leg during a battle with government soldiers 18 months ago in Myanmar’s northern Kachin State. full report

Rohingya evacuation under way in Myanmar

BANGKOK, 14 May 2013 (IRIN) - The government of Myanmar has launched a large-scale effort to relocate to higher ground tens of thousands of Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDPs) ahead of Cyclone Mahasen, says the UN. full report

Bangladesh, Myanmar brace for Cyclone Mahasen

BANGKOK, 13 May 2013 (IRIN) - Bangladesh and Myanmar are bracing for Cyclone Mahasen, a storm which could affect millions in the region, the UN has warned. full report

Marshalling smartphones, gravediggers to fight dengue in Pakistan

LAHORE, 10 May 2013 (IRIN) - On the frontline in the fight against dengue fever in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, the authorities have a sharp eye for spare car tyres. full report

Beating wild weather in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, 9 May 2013 (IRIN) - Planners in Sri Lanka should do more to mitigate the effects of extreme weather in order to help those most likely to be affected, experts say. full report

Calamity planning - Bangladesh role-plays quake response

DHAKA, 7 May 2013 (IRIN) - As Bangladesh armed forces retrieve bodies from the country’s worst ever industrial disaster, a garment factory collapse killing over 700, contingency planning is taking place for something worse - a long-predicted earthquake striking the mega-capital of Dhaka. full report