Border News Agency
Sittwe, October 1.

Residents in Sittwe say that under junta control, funeral expenses have become so expensive that families are struggling even to bury their dead.

According to locals, the cost of a coffin in Sittwe has risen to 150,000 kyats, cremation expenses to 250,000 kyats, and hearse rental fees up to 300,000 kyats.

As a result, residents report facing serious difficulties in arranging funerals for their loved ones.

“In Sittwe right now, it’s not only about hunger. Even when someone dies, families cannot afford to hold a funeral. These are heartbreaking and tragic realities,” a Sittwe resident told Border News Agency.

In recent days, an elderly woman in Ward 13 of Sittwe’s Min Gan area passed away, but her body had to be kept for two days without burial because her family could not afford the funeral expenses, residents said.

Residents said the elderly woman was a war refugee and lived alone. Before her death, she had given her neighbors the phone number of a friend, asking them to contact that person when she passed away.

However, when she died, the neighbors tried to call but were unable to reach anyone. As a result, the funeral could not be arranged, and her body had to be kept at home, according to Sittwe residents.

Those who personally helped arrange the funeral said it was only on the third day after her death that contact was finally made, and they had to cover all the funeral expenses for the body that had remained unburied until then.

“When the phone call first came, I was busy and couldn’t go. I also didn’t arrange the funeral right away. But after three days had passed since her death, I went to check. When I arrived at the small camp where she lived, her body was still lying there as it was. Seeing that broke my heart. The woman who passed away was someone I knew, though we weren’t very close. She had given her neighbors my phone number last year, asking them to contact me when she died. After she passed, I was told that for three days they couldn’t arrange the funeral because they couldn’t afford the expenses. Hearing that after so long made me very sad. In the end, I personally covered all the costs and arranged the funeral for her,” a female resident of Sittwe, who took responsibility for the funeral, told Border News Agency.

She explained that the elderly woman’s body was cremated according to Buddhist rites, costing her over ten million kyats.

Residents in Sittwe report that civilians under the junta’s control are facing severe food shortages, with many dying from starvation or related causes, and some taking their own lives, according to locals.

“The whole town is struggling with poverty. As a war refugee, she had no money and could not afford a funeral. She lived alone and had given me her phone number, trusting me to arrange the funeral. I was able to go and handle it, thankfully. Her neighbors couldn’t do anything either,” a female resident of Sittwe, who personally took care of the funeral, told Border News Agency.

Residents said that during the first week of September, a male war refugee from Byine Phyu village in Sittwe passed away, but his family could not afford cremation due to financial difficulties.

As a result, the body was eventually buried in the ground in a makeshift funeral, according to the refugees.

Residents in Sittwe say that although there used to be many medical aid organizations, social welfare groups, and local community associations in the city, most of them fled when fighting broke out.

As a result, families without financial means are unable to afford funeral costs when a member dies, leaving them unable to cremate their loved ones, according to locals.

Social welfare organizations in Sittwe say that although some aid services remain, they have had to suspend regular operations due to a lack of funding and rising general expenses.

“In the past, even if families couldn’t afford it, they could contact medical aid groups for help with funerals. Now in Sittwe, social welfare organizations are not operating at all. While those who can afford it manage, people without money are finding it extremely difficult to carry out funerals,” a Sittwe resident told Border News Agency.

Residents in Sittwe say that the inability to afford funerals and cremations is due to the lack of employment opportunities and daily income needed for basic food, clothing, and shelter.

Residents say that the extreme poverty, starvation-related deaths, and inability to afford funerals are the result of the junta keeping civilians trapped under harsh conditions, deliberately targeting them and committing killings against the civilian population.

Residents are calling on the international community to take the strongest and most immediate action against the military junta, which continues to commit war crimes and violate human rights.