Myanmar: Violence and Intimidation Leave Tens of Thousands Without Medical Care

Myanmar 2013 © Kaung Htet Displaced people bathe at a water pump in a camp outside Sittwe in Rakhine state.   YANGON, MYANMAR/AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK, February 7, 2013 — Eight months after deadly communal clashes broke out in Myanmar's Rakhine state, tens of thousands of people are still unable to access urgently needed medical care, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today. MSF calls on government authorities and community leaders to ensure that all people of Rakhine can live without fear of violence, abuse and harassment, and that humanitarian organizations can assist those most in need. “It is among people living in makeshift camps in rice fields or other crowded strips of land that MSF is seeing the most acute medical needs,” said Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF general director. “Ongoing insecurity and repeated threats and intimidation by a small but vocal group within the Rakhine community have severely impacted on our ability to deliver lifesaving medical care.” In June 2012, deadly communal clashes led authorities to place Myanmar’s Rakhine State under an official state of emergency. An estimated 75,000 people were displaced and many homes were burned down. Further outbreaks of violence in October exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, forcing about 36,000 more people out of their homes and into makeshift camps, which do not have suff...
Source: MSF News - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news