UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday called for access of aid organizations to northern Rakhine state of Myanmar that has forced more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
OCHA said that, despite "some encouraging signs" by the Government of Myanmar, "substantial progress is urgently needed in granting effective access for aid organizations and addressing the root causes of the crisis, including freedom of movement, safety and a pathway to citizenship for all communities," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Speaking at a regular news briefing, the spokesman said that humanitarian access in northern Rakhine "remains severely limited, denying life-saving support to those in desperate need."
Dujarric cited the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar, Knut Ostby, as saying that the UN is "standing ready to go when we have effective access, but this has not yet been granted by the Government."
The United Nations "remains deeply worried" about the humanitarian situation in Rakhine. There are some 660,000 people in need across Rakhine state, including more than 176,000 in northern Rakhine, said the spokesman.
"Most humanitarian organizations that had been working in northern Rakhine state for years have still not been able to resume programs and services for this population -- some of the most vulnerable people in the world," he added.
The UN also continues to receive reports of violence. More than 11,000 new refugees arrived in Bangladesh between January and June 2018, according to the spokesman.
The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) extremist terrorists launched attacks on police outposts in Myanmar's Rakhine state on Aug. 25 last year, displacing a vast number of residents to neighboring Bangladesh.
