World Vision Ready to Respond to Rakhine State Violence

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

BANGKOK (6 SEPTEMBER 2017) - Nearly two weeks since attacks and counter-attacks unfolded in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State, home to most the country’s Muslim minority population, aid groups remain blocked from the conflict zone due to on-going insecurity.

“We are closely monitoring developments on both sides of the Myanmar-Bangladesh border,” said World Vision’s director of humanitarian and emergency affairs in East Asia, Meimei Leung.  “We will explore with authorities in both countries how we and partners can best alleviate suffering to those caught in the violence.”

On 31 August, World Vision joined 15 other international NGO groups working in Myanmar to condemn the 25 August attacks and counter violence that sparked the exodus of, to date, more than 120,000 people from Myanmar over the border into neigbouring Bangladesh. In a recent joint statement, the agencies called for “all parties to exercise restraint and prevent the further escalation of conflict”.

World Vision is an implementing partner of the UN World Food Programme in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Until one day before the latest attacks in the northern tip of the state, World Vision had delivered food there to some 21,000 people monthly.

“In this moment of crisis, we call on the [Myanmar] Government to re-establish access to conflict-affected areas to ensure the delivery of life-saving services, and to safeguard the health and security of humanitarian workers providing assistance to affected communities,” the international NGO statement read. 

 

For further information, contact: Stuart Rintoul, World Vision Australia 0407 241 492

Media Releases, Bangladesh, Myanmar

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