"Fearful for their safety, many of the 241,000 people forced from their homes by conflict in Myanmar are reluctant to go back. Now campaigners are mobilising to resist organised returns Bawk Nu Awng hasn’t been home since 2011. All three of the villages where she spent her childhood have been destroyed. “War hit wherever my family lived,” she said. “I feel like it is my responsibility to engage in all matters related to peace.” Now aged 21, Bawk Nu Awng, from Kachin in Myanmar, has emerged as a spokesperson among youth displaced by conflict. When Aung San Suu Kyi took power in 2016, her party, the National League for Democracy, pledged to prioritise ending conflict in Myanmar. Yet the country’s various ethnic groups continue to fight for increased federal autonomy. In Rakhine state, conflict is escalating between Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, and the rebel Arakan Army. Nationwide, an estimated 241,000 people like Bawk Nu Awng remain in camps, including more than 97,000 in Kachin state. Camps for internally displaced people are the most visible evidence of Myanmar’s ongoing strife. With elections coming up next year, political momentum to send displaced people home has accelerated. Kachin, which shares a border with China’s Yunnan province, is a strategic area for China’s belt and road initiative, a global development strategy that includes a multi-billion pound China-Myanmar economic corridor. In March, Yunnan officials met with the influential Kachin Baptist Convention; support for returns and a peace agreement was encouraged, with the Chinese contingent suggesting stability could bring investment and development..."