Friends Without Borders Foundation (FWB) prepared a proposal titled "Emergency Support for Daw Noe Ku IDP Camp on the Thai-Myanmar Border” aimed to assist Karenni refugees and displaced persons from 17 July to 17 August 2023. Philanthropy Connections Foundation (PCF) urgently approved an emergency relief budget of 200.000 Baht on 18 July 2023, and FWB started working and arranging funds with the Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) on the same day. KCSN was primarily responsible for coordinating with camp committees for both IDPs and refugees. Aid delivery had been coordinated with local Karenni organisations, including the Seh Theh Foundation (STF) and other Civil society organisations (CSOs), to assist refugees and displaced persons in the project areas from 20th July to 7th August 2023.

The community organisation network and the KCSN provided food and essential items to 3.957 refugees and displaced persons, comprising 756 families. [1] These were distributed across four areas: two in Myanmar (Daw Noe Ku IDP temporary shelter and Nang Ma Kee IDP temporary shelter) and two in Thailand (Karenni Refugee Camp no.1 and temporary shelters near Karenni Refugee Camp no.1). KCSN reported that some of the 3.957 refugees and displaced persons had not yet received assistance. Therefore, the FWB planned a continuation project for phase 2, aiming to assist refugees and displaced persons in the project areas who had not received aid from the first round, focusing on children under five years old.

[1] The number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the area receiving assistance was significant. The Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN) had specifically provided aid to a target group comprising 3,957 individuals as of 16th August 2023.

 In an alarming escalation of violence in Karenni (Kayah) State, a stronghold of resistance in Myanmar, the ruling junta conducted airstrikes in Shadaw and Mese townships on 11 July 2023. These attacks targeted camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), resulting in civilian casualties and driving thousands of refugees to seek shelter across the border in Thailand. According to the Karenni Human Rights Group, a 13-year-old boy was among those killed when a junta warplane dropped three bombs on Kyauk Su village in Mese Township around 12:30 am. Another man from the same village was injured, and two houses, as well as a local church, were demolished in the attack.

Shortly afterward, a second airstrike targeted Daw Noe Ku IDP camp in Shadaw Township, near the Thai border. The devastating attack left one man dead and two women injured. Furthermore, several makeshift huts that were being used as classrooms were also damaged. The bombs were dropped at five locations, scattered across clinics, schools, churches, and residential areas, resulting in more than 5.000 refugees fleeing to the area of Pang Moo Sub-district, Mueang District, in Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand. Additionally, there were many more displaced persons within the country, scattered throughout Karenni State.

The aggressive actions of the military junta in Karenni (Kayah) State did not go unnoticed. The Progressive Karenni People Force revealed that there were at least 343 airstrikes conducted between January and June 2023 in Karenni (Kayah) State alone. Since the military coup in 2021, Kayah State saw a mass displacement of people, with reports suggesting that at least 270.000 individuals were forced to leave their homes. These recent airstrikes only added to the ongoing humanitarian crisis, forcing international communities to reassess their strategies to help the embattled civilians of Myanmar.