Arakan News Agency
The United Nations said on Wednesday it was unable to carry out its humanitarian work freely in Arakan province in western Myanmar because of the security situation and the high risk of aid workers.
Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres spoke by phone with Myanmar State Adviser Aung San Suu Kyi, and continued correspondence on what was happening in the province, Spokesperson for the United Nations UN Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric said at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York. Details of what went between them.
“The security situation does not allow us to operate freely in Arakan and puts our staff at high risk,” Dujarric said.
In response to journalists’ questions about what Guterres expected from the UN Security Council members on the message he had sent on Tuesday about Myanmar, the spokesman said: “We are waiting for the next step of the Council in this regard. The Secretary-General has informed them of the situation there, is fully aware of the cruelty on the Rohingya community. ”
Guterres “suggested that they should either be granted citizenship or a legal status that would allow them a normal life in the territory.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday expressed concern about a humanitarian disaster in the predominantly Muslim region of Rakhine (Arakan) in western Myanmar, blaming the government for providing security.
In an official letter on the violence against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar sent to UN Security Council President Tekeda Alemu, he said he was deeply concerned about receiving continuous reports on “violence including indiscriminate attacks by security forces in Myanmar.”
He said he feared that “the current appalling situation would lead to a humanitarian disaster, with (negative) implications for peace and security, beyond the borders of Myanmar.”
“The main responsibility lies with the Myanmar government in providing security and assistance to all who need it,” the letter said.
Since 25 August, the Myanmar army has committed massive human rights violations in northern Arakan province, using excessive force against Rohingya Muslims, according to media reports.
There is no clear statistics on the victims of these violations, but on August 28, the European Council of Rohingya announced that between 2 and 3 thousand Muslims were killed in the Arakan Army attacks in three days.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the number of Arakan Muslims who arrived in Bangladesh to escape attacks by the army and Buddhist extremists in Arakan has risen to 146,000.
