PHNOM PENH, Nov 10 — The United Nations has called for urgent international intervention in famine looming over Myanmar’s Rakhine state as it could herald social and economic chaos.
The global body warned that effects from failures to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine, could cascade to the region, possibly giving rise to human trafficking and illegal migration.
In a report titled Rakhine: A Famine in the Making released by the UN Development Programme last week, the organisation painted a grim picture of the sufferings of the Rakhine people in Myanmar’s western state, also home to the ethnic Muslim minority Rohingya community.
“Rakhine could face acute famine imminently. Predictions indicate domestic food production will only cover 20 per cent of its needs by March-April 2025.
“As the crisis worsens, the lack of resources and opportunities will continue to fuel tensions and trigger a greater exodus of youth and families, with irregular migration expected to intensify.
“This would have repercussions both within Myanmar and beyond its borders, where this trend is already observable,” said the report.
Rakhine has been at the centre of international attention since 2017 following a conflict between the Myanmar army and the Rohingya insurgent group, forcing more than a million Rohingya to flee their homes.
Asean countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been burdened with the influx of refugees for decades as the humanitarian crisis continues to swell with instability in Myanmar.
The UN said at least two million people in the turmoil-prone state will be exposed to starvation if international aid fails to reach them on time. In addition, an estimated 511,000 internally displaced people across Rakhine will face more acute poverty.
According to the report, Rakhine’s food insecurity was fuelled by the drastic reduction in rice cultivation this year, followed by trade blockades and restrictions on fisheries and rising inflation of food prices, especially rice.
“Only a comprehensive political settlement of the Myanmar crisis will eventually address the structural issues underlying the Rakhine crisis, as well as those affecting the rest of the country.
“However, to avoid a severe famine — and therefore a crisis within a crisis — likely triggering more serious regional consequences, the international community must respond urgently,” said the report.
— Bernama
