Elderly residents at Kyaukphyu’s Thandar Myay Home for the Aged face food, medicine shortages
DMG Newsroom
22 September 2026, Kyaukphyu
Elderly residents living at Thandar Myay Home for the Aged in Kyaukphyu, Arakan State, an area controlled by the military regime, are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance due to critical shortages of food and essential medicines, according to local sources.
The facility shelters elderly individuals who are visually impaired, paralyzed, or chronically ill. A steep drop in private donations has left residents suffering from malnutrition and unaddressed medical issues.
"Junta-controlled departments have cut back on support, and private donors have almost completely disappeared," a male resident close to Thandar Myay Home for the Aged said. "As Kyaukphyu residents are facing severe economic hardship, ensuring regular meals for the elderly has become extremely difficult."
Kyaukphyu has two elderly care homes: Kyaukphyu Home for the Aged in Taungyin Ward and Thandar Myay Home for the Aged in Toechel Ward.
Currently, military junta authorities provide official support only to Kyaukphyu Home for the Aged in Taungyin Ward.
Kyaukphyu Home for the Aged opened in 2016 during the National League for Democracy administration, whereas Thandar Myay Home for the Aged was established in 2006 through joint efforts by Buddhist monks and local residents.
Thandar Myay Home for the Aged currently houses 14 elderly individuals aged 80 and above.
"We want people to donate without discrimination to elderly individuals who have no caregivers," a local female resident of Kyaukphyu said. "I urge everyone to support these elderly grandfathers and grandmothers so they can live out the final years of their lives in peace."
Thandar Myay Home for the Aged previously received funding from private donors as well as the General Administration Department and the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. However, donor contributions plummeted following the outbreak of fighting in Kyaukphyu Township.
Amid tight military security, widespread unemployment, and severe economic distress in Kyaukphyu Town, many local residents have fled to areas controlled by the United League of Arakan and Arakan Army, or to mainland Myanmar, leaving roughly half the town's original population behind.
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