In Pictures
In Pictures: Rakhine humanitarian crisis
Ethnic fighting in Myanmar between Buddhists and Muslims has left 115,000 people desperately in need of aid.
A humanitarian crisis is unfolding across Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where some 115,000 people are desperately in need of aid after being displaced during two waves of inter-communal violence in June and October 2012.
The displaced, most of them ethnic Rohingya, have sought shelter in temporary relief camps and others remain scattered across the state, living under tight security in their destroyed villages.
Conditions are harsh: the camps are overcrowded and some lack even the most basic of sanitation facilities while many of the villages are totally destroyed and running low on water. In one village, more than 32 families were living cheek-by-jowl in just two large tents.
The children have no access to education and the newborn and elderly are in a very vulnerable position due to a lack of medical facilities. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) is distributing relief supplies and working with the authorities and partners to improve camp conditions, but international assistance is required.