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February 07, 2013
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned today that tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslim minority are victims of a humanitarian emergency in Burma (Myanmar) for lack of healthcare in Rakhine state.
Four months after recent sectarian clashes between Rohingya and Buddhist in the east of the country, MSF called on the authorities to end isolation in the camps and threats against workers of the NGO.
"Thousands have lost their homes and are living in precarious camps without health care, running water or basic needs. According to official estimates, the vast majority of the displaced are from the Muslim minority, known as Rohingyas," said MSF in a statement.
The rape and murder of a female Buddhist generated the first violent clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in May and June 2012 in Rakhine and were repeated in October, killing at least 160 people dead and over 100,000 displaced.
Thousands of houses, most of the Rohingya minority, were burned and the tenants were housed in camps to isolate Muslim and Buddhist communities.
MSF reported that their workers are being targeted by intimidation and threats on leaflets and messages on Facebook by local Buddhist groups who accuse them of working for the cause of the Rohingyas, who considered Bengalis.
"Our repeated explanations that only MSF aims to provide medical assistance to those in need is not enough to stop the charges," said Arjan Hehenkamp, CEO of the humanitarian organization in Burma.
In the fields, pregnant women can not give birth with due care, while many children suffer from chronic malnutrition, diarrhea, chronic cough and worms caused by limited access to safe drinking water.
"The only drinking water well is shared with cattle in a nearby village. Five minutes from here is one with clear water, but we dare not go," says a man in an IDP camp in the town of Pauktaw, in the province of Rakhine.
Some 800,000 Rohingya living in Burma, primarily in Rakhine state, though officials denied citizenship because he considers Bengali immigrants.
This community is considered stateless and one of the most persecuted in the world, according to the UN, is also rejected in neighboring Bangladesh, where about 300,000 live poorly in refugee camps.
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