U.S., U.N. Responses To Rohingya Emergency Hampered By Lack Of Access, Growing Influx Of Refugees Into Bangladesh

Devex: Access greatest barrier to U.S. response to Rohingya crisis
“A lack of access is the biggest impediment to aid from the United States reaching the Rohingya Muslim minority in northern Rakhine state in Myanmar, U.S. officials said in a congressional hearing on Thursday. … As a result of the government and military crackdown on access for USAID and NGOs, most of the U.S. efforts are supporting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, though flooding there has slowed aid delivery and a recent report said the influx of new refugees is outpacing resources, creating further challenges and the potential for disease to spread…” (Saldinger, 10/6).

The Guardian: Rohingya crisis: U.N. ‘suppressed’ report predicting its shortcomings in Myanmar
“The U.N. commissioned and then ‘suppressed’ a report that criticized its strategy in Myanmar and warned it was ill-prepared to deal with the impending Rohingya crisis, sources have told the Guardian. The review, written by a consultant and submitted in May, offered a highly critical analysis of the U.N.’s approach and said there should be ‘no silence on human rights’…” (Stoakes/Holmes, 10/5).

The Guardian: Myanmar military accused of killing dozens of fleeing Rohingya villagers
“The Myanmar military killed dozens of Rohingya villagers as they gathered to seek safety following the outbreak of violence in Rakhine state, according to witness reports collected by human rights experts. … The reports, which have been collated by Human Rights Watch, follow a statement from the U.N. committees for women’s and children’s rights warning that the violence in Rakhine state ‘may amount to crimes against humanity’…” (Ratcliffe, 10/4).

Reuters: U.N. fears ‘further exodus’ of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar
“The United Nations braced on Friday for a possible ‘further exodus’ of Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar into Bangladesh six weeks after the world’s fastest-developing refugee emergency began, U.N. humanitarian aid chief said. Some 515,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh from Myanmar’s western state of Rakhine in an unrelenting movement of people that began after Myanmar security forces responded to Rohingya militant attacks with a brutal crackdown…” (Nebehay/Birsel, 10/6).

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