Alwaght- The Burmese Rohingya Organization, based in London, asked the UN and other international organization to pressure Myanmar’s government to lift all restrictions on humanitarian aid in western Rakhine State.
The Myanmar government has sealed off the region since 9 October when nine police were killed after an armed group attacked three police station outposts.
“Unless urgent action is taken more Rohingya people will be dying from starvation than from bullets and bombs fired by the Burmese [Myanmar] Army,” the group said in a statement.
Access to information remains tightly restricted despite calls from UN experts and international rights groups for Myanmar’s government to allow monitors and independent journalists to investigate alleged right abuses by troops against civilians in the area.
Though Myanmar said the World Food Program (WFP) was allowed to provide aid to people in four affected villages since 6 November, the Burmese Rohingya Organization warned that at least 160,000 members of the Muslim minority are in desperate need of food, life-saving medical assistance and other forms of aid.
“However many more villages in the area have yet to receive any support,” the organization said in a statement Thursday.
At least 35,000 Rohingya have been displaced by ongoing military operations, and many remain without food, safe water, healthcare and other essential services, it added.
The group urged UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to meet with State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and military chief Min Aung Hlaing and demand the immediate lifting of all restrictions on aid.
“Humanitarian organizations have not been able to access these communities and undertake a full assessment of their needs,” the statement said.
According to media reports, hundreds of Rohingya villagers have fled to neighboring Bangladesh in fear of the ongoing military crackdown.
Rohingya groups says the number of civilians killed in one weekend alone earlier this month could be as high as 150
