UN Blocked From Helping Civilians Affected By Paletwa/Rakhine Conflict

Narinjara, December 11, 2022

Humanitarian agencies are waiting to provide aid to nearly 10,000 people displaced by the fighting between the military and the United League of Arakan/Arakan Army (ULA /AA). 

A recent United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) statement said that after four months of fierce fighting, an informal peace agreement late last month opened some waterways in the region. “Humanitarian agencies hope that restrictions on humanitarian aid and the movement of civilians, which have been restricted since September, will soon be eased so that aid can be delivered.”

Since September, the Ministry of Border Affairs in Rakhine State has prohibited UN agencies from helping those in need.

A man who visited IDP camps in Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships said people are suffering.

“In Ganan Taung camp in Ponnagyun Township, the new arrivals are getting very poor food. Since the UN agencies haven” t yet arrived, they’re facing an immense crisis. As far as their health is concerned, no medicines are allowed to be brought in and medical personnel aren’t going there,” he told Narinjara.

The regime has opened some land and water routes, but aid deliveries to the camps remain restricted for now. Organisations with valid government papers are allowed to enter Rakhine State, while others whose papers have expired are still waiting for permission, and it is unclear when the regime will issue new travel permits.

According to the UNOCHA statement, 23,700 civilians have been displaced in Paletwa Township in Chin State, as well as in some of the townships in Rakhine State from the recent fighting, adding to total of 98,500 since the conflict started.