UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th November, 2021) UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths on Monday urged the international community to fund the humanitarian response for Myanmar by providing $385 million amid the deteriorating situation in the country.
The humanitarian situation in Myanmar is deteriorating. Across the country, there are now more than 3 million people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance because of growing conflict and insecurity, COVID-19 and a failing economy," Griffiths said in a statement. "I... call on the international community to fund the response. Less than half of the US$385 million required under the Humanitarian Response Plan and Interim Emergency Response Plan launched after the armed forces' takeover has been received."
Since the military coup on February 1, Griffiths said hundreds of thousands of people had fled their homes and 223,000 people remain internally displaced.
In addition, more than 37,000 people, including women and children, have been newly displaced in recent weeks as the fighting between the Myanmar Armed Forces and the Chinland Defense and the People's Defense Forces has escalated in Chin state, Mgway and Sagaing regions, Griffiths said.
While humanitarian workers are providing aid to the people in need, they face a lack of access across the country resulting from bureaucratic impediments imposed by the military, Griffiths added.
"I call on the Myanmar armed forces - and all parties - to facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access," he said.
November 8 marks one year since the 2020 general elections in Myanmar deemed free and fair by domestic and international observers.
The military came to power in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, under the pretext that the National League for Democracy rigged the November election. The military coup triggered a wave of civil protests, and more than 1,180 people have died in clashes with the authorities.
