UN warns of monsoon threat to displaced Rohingya

March 30, 2013

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RANGOON, Burma – The UN warned Friday (March 29th) that tens of thousands of internally displaced Rohingya Muslims face "imminent danger" from looming monsoon rains, given the flood-prone camps in which they are staying, AFP reported.

Muslim Rohingya stand near a puddle following heavy monsoon rains at the Say Thamagyi Internally Displaced Persons camp near Sittwe in Burma's western Rakhine state in October. The UN warned Friday (March 29th) the Rohingya Muslims again face "imminent danger" from the monsoon season, which begins in May. [Christophe ArchambaultAFP]

They "are now in imminent danger of yet another tragedy when the monsoon rains hit ... We must act immediately to prevent a predictable tragedy," John Ging, of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said of an estimated 125,000 Rohingya and other Muslims. They fled to the squalid camps in western Burma after communal violence erupted in Rakhine last year.

He added that heavy rains are expected to spread waterborne diseases among already weakened camp residents.

Ahead of the monsoons, which start in May, Ging urged the Burmese government to provide new land – at higher elevations – for camps and to rebuild community relations.

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