U.N. appeals for aid as Myanmar refugee exodus nears 300,000

U.N. appeals for aid as Myanmar refugee exodus nears 300,000
Sun Sep 10, 2017 13:59:47

The United Nations has appealed for aid to deal with a humanitarian crisis unfolding in southern Bangladesh after the number of Muslim Rohingya fleeing Myanmar neared 300,000, just two weeks after violence erupted there.

(reuters) -- The wave of hungry and traumatised refugees is "showing no signs of stopping", overwhelming agencies in the Cox's Bazar region already helping hundreds of thousands displaced by previous spasms of conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine state, the U.N. said.

"It is vital that aid agencies working in Cox's Bazar have the resources they need to provide emergency assistance to incredibly vulnerable people who have been forced to flee their homes and have arrived in Bangladesh with nothing," the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Robert Watkins said.

Thousands of displaced people in Rakhine have been stranded or left without food for weeks. Many are still trying to cross mountains, dense bush and rice fields to reach Bangladesh.

(Photo: reuters)

Category:
string(311) "[{"id":"3046421","sort":"8053376","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"150494332656240600.jpg","title":"Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims: Stateless, Persecuted, Fleeing [Video] "} ,{"id":"3047271","sort":"8053381","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"150502808877753200.jpg","title":"Rohingyas relive village massacre in Myanmar "} ]"