FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator for the U.N. Martin Griffiths called on the military regime in Burma for greater aid access, stated the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Aug. 17. “My meetings were an opportunity to raise the need for expanded access. I also expressed concern about the protection risks facing civilians in conflict areas and the bureaucratic constraints we humanitarians are facing in reaching them. It is critical for us to have the humanitarian space we need for safe, sustained aid deliveries around the country,” said Griffiths following his three-day visit from Aug. 15-17 to Burma. 

The UNOCHA states that 1.9 million people are currently displaced from their homes in Burma. This is a fivefold increase from the 380,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 2021. During his visit, Griffiths met with Min Aung Hlaing and visited Rakhine and Rohingya communities in Arakan State affected by both man-made and natural disasters, including the conflict and Cyclone Mocha, which made landfall on May 14. “Successive crises in Myanmar have left one third of the population in need of humanitarian aid,” said Griffiths before departing the country. “They expect more and better from their leaders and from the international community.”