Christmas this year passed with images shared to social media by an account called “Christ the King – Loikaw” showing Christmas Eve mass on Tuesday taking place inside Mother’s Cave, which is reportedly located in the mountains along the Myanmar-Thailand border in Karenni State.

“This year, with daily heavy artillery strikes in [Shan State’s] Moebye and [Karenni’s] Kon Thar, we can only manage prayers and sing songs,” said Eagle, a 30-year-old member of the Karenni resistance. 

“Even when we find moments of joy, it’s never complete. We hope to celebrate properly when the time comes,” he added, optimistic that a victory over the regime would be the eventual result of the uprising against the 2021 military coup. 

Up to 85 percent of the population of Karenni is displaced from their homes and have had to celebrate Christmas inside Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps over the last three years.

The Karenni Interim Executive Council (IEC), a provisional government set up by the resistance, stated that the number of IDPs is 350,000.

It added that this number includes those displaced from their homes in Karenni State and neighbouring Pekon Township of southern Shan State – historically a part of Karenniland currently under resistance control.

“Since the military coup, we haven’t been able to live in our own homes. I miss the simple joys we had in our region,” said Tu, a woman from Loikaw Township of Karenni State who was displaced from her home and lives in an IDP camp.

Karenni Hope, an organization supporting IDPs, reported that modest Christmas festivities took place in an IDP camp it manages that hosts 200 people near the state capital Loikaw.

“We organize activities to lift children’s spirits,” said Lwam, the IDP camp manager at Karenni Hope. “They deserve to experience joy during Christmas, despite the circumstances,” he added.

The U.N. states that there are over 3.5 million IDPs in Myanmar. The World Food Programme states that 18.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and 13.3 million people are facing food insecurity due to several factors, including the crisis since the 2021 coup.

In his annual Christmas address to Myanmar on Dec. 25, the National Unity Government (NUG) Acting President Duwa Lashi La said that he is concerned with the growing number of civilians displaced from their homes by the military.