INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
UN staff say they have not been given permission to help thousands of Rohingya living in displacement camps in Myanmar who are in urgent
need of food, medicine and shelter in the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, which struck the west of the country on Sunday.People living in
Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, said they estimated that about 90% of homes of Rohingya people had been destroyed and more than 100
people killed when winds of more than 150 miles an hour hit the region
However, the refugee agency UNHCR said the Myanmar government had not yet granted access to the camps in Sittwe, home to about 100,000
“As yet, UNHCR has not been granted access to carry out needs assessments.”Bright Islam, a 28-year-old Rohingya activist, said: “The
cyclone destroyed everything we had
We have nothing to eat, and people have to sleep on the road
Injured people don’t have access to medical treatment.”It really is a nightmare scenario for this cyclone to hit areas with such deep
pre-existing needsRamanathan Balakrishnan, UN humanitarian coordinatorHe said he witnessed people drown in the flood water in Sittwe,
“mostly children and older people”, and counted about 110 dead bodies when the waters cleared
“I cried because I was afraid, I could also be dead,” he said.Habibullah, who only wanted to be known by one name, said his 55-year-old
aunt died in the storm because she was too scared to leave her home in Dar Paing camp in Sittwe
“She didn’t expect that it would be that bad,” he said.He said he had to leave her in her house while he helped others
After the cyclone, he found her body
“I am very sorry to leave her there
But I had no other choice
If we had early warning and precaution in time, she would still be alive.”Cyclone Mocha hit Myanmar on its journey across the Bay of
Sittwe was the worst affected area, but the category 5 storm also damaged towns further east in Chin, Sagaing and Magway regions.The UN said
on Thursday that 17 townships in Rakhine and four in Chin had been declared natural-disaster-affected areas by the government
Images on social media show trees, buildings, and electricity poles toppled, and debris piled on the ground
The UN said health supplies and water purification tablets for 200,000 people have been sent to Sittwe.ThekayPyin camp in Sittwe, as Cyclone
Photograph: Screengrab/Obtained by ReutersOn Tuesday, Ramanathan Balakrishnan, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar, said 5.4 million
people were thought to live in the cyclone’s path
“Of these, we consider 3.1 million people to be most vulnerable to cyclone impacts by taking together indicators of shelter quality, food
insecurity and poor coping capacity.“It really is a nightmare scenario for this cyclone to hit areas with such deep pre-existing needs,”
Balakrishnan said.The Rohingya live in internal displacement camps after being forced from their homes in Myanmar by numerous military
A military “clearance” in 2017 pushed a million Rohingya to seek refuge in Bangladesh.Reuben Lim, the chief communications officer for
UNHCR Myanmar, confirmed that “deaths by drowning have been reported in displacement camps with many others missing”.Ro Nay San Lwin, a
Rohingya activist in Europe, said he expected high casualties
He said early warning announcements of the cyclone made by the military through loudspeakers in the camps were “just for show” as no
logistical support, shelters or transport, were provided and Rohingya were not allowed to leave the camps.“People lost their lives because
they had no freedom of movement
The junta has been committing serious international crimes against the Rohingya for many decades
Their aim is to eliminate the entire population from the country.”A Rohingya woman holds her baby next to her destroyed house at Basara
Photograph: Sai Aung Main/AFP/Getty ImagesIslam said they were “living in hell”
“We got more affected by the cyclone because our camp is close to the sea and our movement is under control,” he said
“If we could stay in our original homes, it wouldn’t have been that bad.”In Bangladesh, about 60,000 people were displaced and 30,000
homes damaged or destroyed in Cox’s Bazar district, where more than 1 million Rohingya live in refugee camps.Rohingya Refugee Response,
which coordinates humanitarian support for more than 900,000 refugees in Bangladesh, said 5,800 shelters were damaged and 400 destroyed
Health and education centres and water points were damaged by landslides
UNHCR said it has been providing emergency shelter and other services in Bangladesh.The worst conditions were on the southern-most tip of
mainland Bangladesh and in the Nayapara refugee camp, where refugees who lost their homes to a fire two years ago again saw homes
damaged.“Our block was already burned down and so the shelters were only light plastic and bamboo,” said Amir Hossain, whose shelter was
“People were worried before the cyclone hit the camp
As soon as the strong winds started, most of the tarpaulin roofs were blown away and only the frames of the homes were left.“People are
struggling to rebuild again, we have not got the materials to rebuild the shelters
Some people are living in community centres and schools for now,” he said.Amid the destruction, seven babies were born in one of the
refugee camps further north, on Sunday, according to the NGO Friendship.The NGO, which runs Friendship Hospital Ukhiya for refugees and the
host community, said the deliveries were “a testament to the power of motherhood”
This article was updated on 22 May 2023 to clarify that the UN had not been granted permission to access refugee camps, rather than being
This article first appeared/also appeared in theguardian.com
