The Burmese government is "systematically restricting humanitarian aid and imposing discriminatory policies" against the Rohingya Muslims in the state of Arakan, asserted Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Meanwhile the governmennt spokesperson for Arakan State, Win Myaing, has accused the Rohingya Muslims of deliberately inflating the numbers of IDPs in order to receive more aid. Maing said:
“Now, when we are making a list in the camp over here, then people from [another camp] will come,”
“Frankly, [the Rohingya] are just attempting to make the list bigger so that they can get more aid.”
HRW's deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson said:
"Burmese government restrictions on aid to Rohingya Muslims are creating a humanitarian crisis that will become a disaster when the rainy season arrives."
“Instead of addressing the problem, Burma’s leaders seem intent on keeping the Rohingya segregated in camps rather than planning for them to return to their homes.”
“The government seems untroubled by the dire humanitarian conditions in the camps in Arakan State but it will be responsible for the lives unnecessarily lost,”
“Concerned donor governments should be demanding that the Burmese government produce an action plan to resolve the crisis because continued inaction will only make the crisis worse.”
In a statement released on Tuesday, HRW stated that the government's security forces did not permit residents of the camp to leave, and despite the risk of heavy flooding in the camps come the rainy season in May, the government had not taken serious steps to move the camp to higher ground.
See full statement here.
