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Geneva: Food, water and medical help are in short
supply at overcrowded camps in violence-hit western Myanmar that
are “stretched beyond capacity”, said the UN refugee agency.
Buddhist-Muslim bloodshed in Rakhine state has caused more than
28,000 people to flee their homes this month, UNHCR said in a
statement.
“It is clearly urgent that law and order be restored to
prevent further violence, and that access is facilitated so that
aid can be provided to those in need,” the agency said.
The latest
fighting, which erupted on October 21, has seen whole neighborhoods razed in a spate of arson attacks that United
Nations staff reported had resulted in “widespread destruction and
displacement”.
Dozens of people have been killed in the fresh unrest. Thousands
from mainly Muslim communities have streamed towards camps already
struggling to cope with the 75,000 people displaced by earlier
clashes in June.
“With the new influx, these already overcrowded
camps are being stretched beyond capacity in terms of space,
shelter and basic supplies such as food and water,” UNHCR said.
“Food prices in the area have
doubled and there are not enough doctors to treat the sick and
wounded", it added.
More than 3,000 people
have travelled in boats toward the state capital Sittwe in hopes of
finding shelter at the camps on the coast near the outskirts of
the city. Many are now living on the barren shoreline.
“We have no
home, no place to stay, no money — that’s how it is. The children
are hungry from when the day starts and they cry,” said Ahpu, who
was separated from her husband and son as she ran for her life
from her village in Kyaukpyu, one of several townships hit by
unrest.
The 42-year-old, who gave only one name, told AFP the attack was
instigated by ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, with whom her Kaman Muslim
community had lived “like family” in the past.
Myanmar’s 800,000
stateless Rohingya, viewed by the United Nations as among the most
persecuted minorities on the planet, are seen by the government
and many Burmese as illegal immigrants from neighboring
Bangladesh. But other Muslims in Rakhine have also been swept up
in the latest violence, and most of those displaced near the camp
close to Sittwe identified themselves as Kaman, one of Myanmar’s
officially recognized ethnic groups.
Rakhine government spokesman
Win Myaing said an increase in displaced people had put the
authorities under strain and indicated that the unrest could
continue to flare.
“Some ask me how long the clashes will continue. We do not know.
It could go on for about a month or two. It could even be as long
as a year or two,” he said.
UNHCR raised concerns about reaching
the displaced in “extremely hard-to-reach areas”, and said unknown
numbers had fled into the hills.
The agency said another 6,000 people
were stranded on boats or on islets along the west coast and “are
looking for safe places where they can receive assistance”.
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