US urges govt to ease tensions in Rakhine state

Samantha Power, US ambassador to the UN, urged the government to stop communal violence and protect humanitarian workers. 

“We continue to support Burma’s reforms, but are greatly concerned that without effective government intervention violence in Rakhine could worsen, lives will be lost, and the critically needed humanitarian presence will not be sustainable,” AFP quoted Samantha Power as saying.

“The government must take urgent steps to avoid more violence and to prevent setbacks on the journey to democracy and prosperity.”

She spoke after the UN special adviser on Myanmar, Vijay Nambiar, updated the UN Security Council on the situation in the country’s west.

Power’s remark followed United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s expression of concern after attacks on the UN and international non-government organisations late last month in Sittwe. On March 30, after a telephone conversation with President Thein Sein, he said that impunity cannot be tolerated in Myanmar’s reform process and called for the protection of all civilians and respect for the rule of law.

The unrest reportedly flared after reports that a foreign aid worker had treated a Buddhist flag disrespectfully.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the violence, during which UN and NGO offices, living quarters, and warehouses were seriously damaged or looted, was the culmination of months of increasing intimidation and harassment of humanitarian staff and local suppliers by a vocal minority of the Rakhine community. The violence forced humanitarian workers to flee Rakhine earlier this month.

Their departure has aggravated the already critical health situation for hundreds of thousands of Muslims dependent on international medical assistance, including 140,000 displaced people living in camps and more than 700,000 living in isolated villages.