Kachin Hills Worried About Second Famine Caused By Rats

Kachin people in the hills in Burma's northern Kachin State, who rely mainly on cultivation, are worried regarding a second bout of famine caused by rats, said Kachin hill sources.

Local people said the rat population has risen significantly and the rodents have destroyed rice and crops in plantations in the Triangle Areas (also called Mali-N'Mai Walawng and Mali-Hkrang Walawng in Kachin) over the last two weeks. This is the region between Mali Hka River and N'mai Hka River.

A village elder in N'pawn Hkyet, where 18 households with over a hundred people live in the Triangle Areas, who arrived in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, said the rat population has multiplied suddenly. The rodents have destroyed all crops in his village over the last two weeks.

People in the areas are worried about a second famine brought on by rats because the same situation is true for the entire Triangle Areas, added the village elder.

The village elder of N'pawn Hkyet reached Myitkyina to explain the situation and seek food and aid from local and international non-governmental organizations in anticipation of a famine, said a person who met him in Myitkyina.

The first severe Yu Li Hku in Kachin, meaning "rat-famine" in Kachin history occurred in the Triangle Areas in 1977 after bamboos flowered. Rats are known to eat the flowers and multiply and then destroy crops and food stocks.

The famine occurred during civil wars between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the Burmese ruler General Ne Win's Burma Communist Programme Party in these areas.

Thousands of people suffered from the famine and a huge number of people in Kachin history fled to the famine-evacuated areas like Myitkyina, Hukawng Valley and Puta-O, according to the victims of yesteryears.

Currently, there are several hundred villages with thousands of ethnic Kachin people remaining in the areas, said locals.

The Triangle Areas are controlled by the KIO. The 1st Brigade of Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the armed-wing of KIO is also based in the areas and is a stronghold of the KIO/A.

On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of ethnic Chins in Chin State in the country’s west have been suffering from famine caused by rats since late 2007.