The Red Cross organizations are scaling up operations in Myanmar’s violence-riven northwest, after the United Nations had to suspend activities there following government suggestions that its agency had supported Rohingya insurgents, Reuters reported Saturday.
Reuters reports that according to aid workers, a serious humanitarian crisis is unfolding on the Myanmar side of the border.
On Friday, the UN reported 270,000 Rohingyas had fled Myanmar for Bangladesh but by early Saturday another 20,000 had arrived.
Thousands of displaced people have been stranded or left without food for weeks.
The flight of the Rohingya began on August 25 after Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army base in Rakhine state. That triggered an army counter-offensive in which at least 400 people were killed, thousands of houses were burned, villages razed and vast swathes of land depopulated.
“The UN and INGOs have not been very welcome in Rakhine and...they are not able to operate and ensure the safety and security of their staff and volunteers,” said Joy Singhal of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
“In such an environment, the government has invited the Red Cross to assist them,” Singhal said.
According to Reuters, aid workers worry many Rohingya had been left without food since mid-July, when the World Food Programme (WFP), which had been providing food and cash assistance, was unable to operate.
The UN evacuated “non-critical” staff from the area after the government suggested the WFP and international aid groups supported the insurgents shortly after the attacks.
Joy said the government would have the role of “coordination and facilitation,” but the “assessment, aid delivery and implementation” would all be managed by the Red Cross.
Thousands of people are still trying to cross mountains, dense bush and rice fields to reach Bangladesh.
On Friday, the UN in Bangladesh found tens of thousands of refugees who had not been counted before, raising the count dramatically to 270,000 from some 164,000 the day before. On Saturday, that jumped by another 20,000 as the stream of hungry, traumatized and destitute people showed no signs of abating, reported Reuters.
“Humanitarian agencies are deploying mobile medical teams, installing emergency latrines, providing water, and are distributing tarpaulins for basic shelter and food rations to new arrivals. But much more is needed and we are fast running out of stock,” Margo Baars, who facilitates the Inter Sector Coordination Group convened by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said in a press release.
IOM, which on Friday allocated $1 million from its emergency funds to boost the humanitarian response in Cox's Bazar, is working with the government and partners to scale up its delivery of lifesaving aid – most importantly shelter, drinking water, food and medical assistance – to those most in need.
Separately, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund on Friday also announced a further $7 million to help the thousands of destitute people who continue to flood into Bangladesh.
Most of the people now crossing the border are women, children and the elderly, many of whom are vulnerable and lack the ability to take care of themselves. There are also many pregnant and lactating women among the new arrivals, the UN reported.
Healthcare facilities are also struggling to provide adequate services as the number of people in need of emergency and basic health care continue to grow. Seven mobile health teams have been deployed to the spontaneous settlement areas, and IOM and partners are recruiting more doctors, nurses and midwives to increase the reach of the teams.