Posted on 15 June 2023
The UN have put out a press release calling the Rakhine State Administration Council out on their decision to suspend humanitarian access into the region, describing it as “unfathomable”.
Up until now, many organisations have been using limited travel authorisations to enter the state and provide much needed humanitarian support. They have reached almost 300,000 people in the area, who urgently require food, shelter and other relief items.
“This decision is yet another devastating setback for more than a million people whom humanitarians had planned to reach with life-saving assistance in cyclone-hit Rakhine state over the weeks and months ahead”, said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i Ramanathan Balakrishnan.
He say “this denial of access unnecessarily prolongs the suffering of those without food to eat or a roof over their head” and asks the Council to “urgently reconsider this decision and re-instate the initial approval that was granted for distributions which will allow aid that is ready and waiting to flow to people who desperately need it.”