More than 2 million face imminent famine in Rakhine state in Myanmar, UN report says

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00:00Next, the United Nations is warning that more than two million people in Myanmar's war-ravaged

00:05Rakhine state could be facing imminent starvation.

00:08That's according to a new report put out by the UN, which also accuses the military

00:13of imposing collective punishment on Rakhine states by blocking trade routes.

00:18The number of internally displaced people in Rakhine, which borders Bangladesh to the

00:22west, has risen by more than 60 per cent from October 2023 to August this year, with more

00:28than 500,000 people now relying entirely on aid.

00:32Well, let's get more on this and speak to Kani Wignarajah, who wrote the report.

00:37She's the UN's Assistant Secretary General and the UNDP's Asia Regional Director.

00:42Thanks so much for joining us on the programme, Kani, we really appreciate your time.

00:46I would love for you to just lay out for us, first of all, how urgent the humanitarian

00:49needs are in Rakhine states at the moment.

00:53Well, the biggest issue here is that we've not seen this level of escalation of conflict

01:00in Rakhine at such an intense, ongoing level for so long.

01:06And it's causing a blockade of near total cessation of trade, both externally and through

01:14internal borders.

01:16And I think that, together with the fact that mobile communications, internet suspension,

01:22has just stopped a lot of basic services and food and meds coming in.

01:30With the displacement of so many people, people are not farming the lands.

01:35And when you miss a couple of these cycles, we're seeing a breadbasket that was Rakhine

01:41for rice, now down to about 20 per cent of rice production.

01:47If you project these for UNDP, the issue is the threat to all aspects of human development.

01:54We've not seen this level of depth of poverty in the country at a sustained level.

02:01So it is a very, very concerning situation going on there.

02:07And in this report, as you mentioned that you've accused the military junta of using

02:11hunger as a weapon by blocking vital aid in terms of food, what are the difficulties

02:18in addressing humanitarian needs and delivering aid to those areas that need it the most?

02:25I think the issue here is all parties to the conflict are seeing that their actions are

02:32falling harshly on the civilian population of Rakhine.

02:37So this is something that all of them, which is why we've been saying that without a negotiated

02:42settlement to stop the conflict, what has happened is a legal economy in Rakhine that

02:50actually served its people has now turned into a illegal economy, which is the only

02:56place there really is cash flowing in the hands of people.

03:03So if you've come to a stage where you're seeing among the displaced in IDP camps, 30

03:11percent of children who are stunted, that's a UNICEF figure, acute malnutrition at over

03:1930 percent, if you look at also what WFP and others are projecting, we pulled all of this

03:26together to look at the fact that people are surviving on a meal a day, if that.

03:33And sometimes with, I think the income levels are now down to about 22 cents a day.

03:41And that is not enough even for a meal of rice.

03:45So people are now turning to rice brand.

03:47They're selling their assets, very little cash in the system.

03:53And very difficult for aid workers, whether from the UN, from NGOs, other international

03:59and regional support to come in to Rakhine.

04:03We can only really get to Sittwe at this time, and that's not enough.

04:09Let's focus on just the direct impact of the conflict on the situation in Rakhine State.

04:16Since the collapse of the ceasefire deal, as you spoke about, between the Arakan army

04:21and the military in November, a major new front in Myanmar's civil war has opened up

04:26now.

04:27How is that impacting the displacement camps?

04:29Well, that has just increased the numbers.

04:33As you can see, we've heard from the Bangladesh side that there's a number of refugees moving

04:41across the border again, and more folks coming into these camps.

04:46But we can't access them the way we could before.

04:51And you're also seeing now, probably the link to our UNODC colleagues, this is now the center

05:00of opium production in the world.

05:05So with all of this, you're seeing organized crime take over.

05:09So human trafficking is spiking, drug and arms trafficking.

05:14And this is really, at the end of the day, hurting the civilian population.

05:21This is meaning that of the three million in Rakhine, you're going to see two thirds

05:26of them really facing not only an imminent famine in the early part of next year, but

05:36a huge loss of life, of livelihoods, of homes, and no place to go, which then gets them moving

05:46into very perilous journeys across land and sea borders.

05:50It's quite a dire situation, it sounds like.

05:52Kani, thank you so much for joining us on the program.

05:54We appreciate getting your thoughts and finding out more about this report that really presents

06:00a very stark warning.

06:01Thank you so much for that.

06:02That's Kani Wig-Naraja, who wrote that report.

06:06She's the UN's Assistant Secretary General and the UNDP Asia Regional Director.

06:13Let's move on.

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