Rohingya crisis: Situation ‘spinning out of control’, say aid officials carrying out rescue work
A combination of escalating violence, worsening health and poor access to conflict zones in Myanmar’s Rakhine state is fueling a humanitarian crisis that is “spinning out of control”, senior aid officials said on Thursday.
“We’ve seen a massive increase in violence not just between armed actors but also civilians, which is tearing families apart and leaving people to feel completely abandoned and disenfranchised,” Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have crossed the border to neighbouring Bangladesh since Aug. 25, when coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts sparked a ferocious counter-offensive by the Myanmar army.
The United Nations says killings, arson and rape carried out by troops and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist mobs amount to a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya.
“I worry that this continued context of fear and violence is spinning out of control and will only lead to displacement of more people,” Maurer said.
Myanmar has blocked humanitarian agencies apart from Red Cross organisations from accessing the northern part of Rakhine state in western Myanmar, where the conflict worsened at the end of August.
“Being one of the only actors able to operate in Myanmar presents …read more
