• Burmese
Saturday, December 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
33 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News Burma

UN Plans to Expand Arakan Aid to Thousands of Villagers

by Paul Vrieze
July 19, 2013
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
UN Plans to Expand Arakan Aid to Thousands of Villagers

A child uses a World Food Program bag to shelter from the rain at Bawdupha camp for internally displaced Rohingya Muslims

4.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RANGOON — The UN announced that it plans to expand aid operations in Arakan State to another 36,000 people in 113 isolated villages.

These communities, which are most Rohingya Muslim, have seen their livelihoods destroyed by inter-communal conflict, while government security measures have restricted their access to healthcare and other basic services.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar’s Junta Faces an Increase in Resistance Attacks in Yangon, Reports Say

Myanmar’s Junta Faces an Increase in Resistance Attacks in Yangon, Reports Say

December 1, 2023
3.7k
Pro-Junta Party Leader Assassinated in Myanmar

Pro-Junta Party Leader Assassinated in Myanmar

December 1, 2023
3.7k
Clashes, Fires Rage in Loikaw as Resistance Continues Push to Oust Myanmar Junta Forces

Clashes, Fires Rage in Loikaw as Resistance Continues Push to Oust Myanmar Junta Forces

December 1, 2023
1.1k

The new UN aid plan, however, does not include support measures for Aung Mingalar, the isolated Muslim neighborhood in Sittwe town where authorities are confining some 6,500 people.

The proposed aid measures, which are yet to be formally endorsed by the Burma government, would raise the total number of UN aid recipients in Arakan to 176,000 people.

So far, the UN response in Arakan has focused on 140,000 people, mostly Muslims, who are living in crowded camps in the countryside. They were displaced by last year’s violence between Rohingya Muslims and Arakanese Buddhists.

A report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) released on Thursday said a recent joint mapping exercise by aid organizations had identified 113 villages that also required support.

“A year after the violence, many people in villages are now isolated, with no or very limited access to basic services, including markets, education and health care. Many have suffered trauma and require support,” the report said. “This is due to continued restrictions on movement, ongoing tensions and no return options.”

The plan also seeks to address the needs of the approximately 20,000 children in Arakan who have missed one year of schooling. The UN plans to set up temporary learning facilities for 12,000 children living in camps.

UNOCHA said it would cost US $80 million to implement the revised 2012-2013 response plan, adding that a $10 million funding gap remains.

A UN official, who asked not be named, said UNOCHA had kept the government informed on its revised aid plan but authorities have yet to formally endorse the measures.

Asked if the isolated Muslim neighborhood in Sittwe town would receive aid under the new plan, the official said, “We could not find it in the list… We are trying to find out why this data has not come through.”

Security forces surround Aung Mingalar, a quarter in the town’s old center, and its approximately 6,500 inhabitants cannot leave. Authorities have restricted food and medical aid deliveries to the Muslim ghetto, even though it lacks health care facilities.

The government has also imposed travel restrictions on the isolated Rohingya villagers and the displaced living in camps. Authorities have so far limited UN aid deliveries to Muslim villages.

Burma’s government appears to have taken the measures with the aim of reinforcing the Rohingya’s statelessness. It has also been accused of supporting of the Buddhist majority in its attacks on Muslims.

The measures have been criticized by human rights groups and international aid organizations, such as Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The groups say the restrictions violate basic human rights, such as freedom of movement and access to health care.

On Friday, MSF welcomed the new UN plan to expand aid coverage to isolated villages, saying it was a step in the right direction.

“It’s recognition that the affected population is wider than the [displaced] population. People in these locations have also lost access to services like health facilities, food markets, their fields and sometimes even clean water,” said Peter Paul de Groote,MSF Head of Mission in Burma.

MSF has repeatedly complained that government restrictions are constraining its medical aid work. Currently, its mobile health clinics are only allowed to visit Sittwe’s Muslim quarter twice a week.

De Groote urged the government to lift all “restrictions on freedom of movement for both humanitarian workers and communities.”

“What we have seen shows that current policies … are having a detrimental impact on people’s health. This includes TB patients unable to access the treatment they need to stay alive, and pregnant women dying unnecessarily because they have nowhere safe to deliver,” he wrote in an email.

Shwe Maung, a parliamentarian with the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, welcomed the UN plan, saying that the isolated Muslim villages had long been in desperate need of support.

“In the isolated villages it’s worse than in the displaced people camps because they can’t even get regular food rations,” said Shwe Maung, who represents the Muslim-majority Maungdaw Township in northern Arakan State.

However, Arakanese nationalist politicians, who are influential in the state, said in a reaction that an increase in security forces — and not an increase in UN aid — would improve the livelihoods of those affected by the conflict.

“Security is more important than international aid,” claimed Khin Maung Gree, a central committee member of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), which supports the Buddhist community. “If the villagers have good security they could easily go back to their work.”

Your Thoughts …
Previous Post

Activist Bauk Ja Arrested for Negligent Homicide

Next Post

Burma Business Roundup (July 20)

Paul Vrieze

Paul Vrieze

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

November 28, 2023
77.1k
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

November 29, 2023
69.5k
Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

November 27, 2023
29.5k
Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

November 25, 2023
26.8k
General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

September 14, 2023
23.4k
Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

August 18, 2023
21.7k
Load More
Next Post

Burma Business Roundup (July 20)

An Oasis—of Sorts—on the Outskirts of Yangon

An Oasis—of Sorts—on the Outskirts of Yangon

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar’s Junta And Its Military Face Annihilation, Arakan Army Says

7 days ago
18.9k
Illusion of Myanmar Military’s Indispensability Has Been Shattered

Illusion of Myanmar Military’s Indispensability Has Been Shattered

4 days ago
5.3k

Most Read

  • Myanmar’s Civilian Government Takes Control of Seized Funds

    Myanmar’s Civilian Government Takes Control of Seized Funds

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar IDPs Stranded by Junta Troops in Northern Shan State Face a Long Walk Home

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Junta Bombardments in Myanmar’s Rakhine State Spark Mass Exodus

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Pro-Junta Party Leader Assassinated in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar’s Junta Faces an Increase in Resistance Attacks in Yangon, Reports Say

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.