Myanmar

A Day in the Life of Su-Su, A Prosthetic Technician in Myanmar

Monday, September 15, 2014
28-year-old Su-Su loves her job helping injured children and adults walk again. She works in the Hpa-An Orthopaedic Centre in southern Myanmar, where she makes and custom fits artificial limbs for victims of landmines, traffic accidents and other injuries. Her specialist training was entirely funded by the ICRC, making her one of only 10 fully trained prosthetic technicians in the whole of Myanmar.

Myanmar: Violence in Rakhine Creates Long-Term Needs

Wednesday, September 10, 2014
"The Muslim and ethnic Rakhine communities are both suffering the long-term effects of violence. Access to essential health care and clean water has been seriously affected, as has the capacity to earn a livelihood," said Enrique Ochoa, head of the ICRC’s office in Sittwe. Since resuming its programmes in May, the organization has been tackling a broad range of problems faced by both communities.

Lack of Health Care Deadly for Myanmar's Rohingya

Friday, May 2, 2014
SITTWE, Myanmar — When the kicking stopped, Zura Begum suspected something was wrong with the twins she was supposed to deliver that month. When the pain started shooting through her body, all doubt was erased. She needed help, but had nowhere to turn. She was trapped with thousands of other Muslim Rohingya in a squalid, dusty camp in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state. The foreign aid workers she had relied on early in her pregnancy were gone — forced out by a distrustful government and extremist Buddhist mobs. Getting help outside the camps, in hospitals run by the Buddhist Rakhine majority, requires special permission that is harder than ever to obtain.

Myanmar: Humanitarian Lifeline Cut Following Violence against Aid Agencies in Rakhine

Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Hundreds of thousands of people are finding it difficult to access basic services such as health care following the emergency relocation of up to 300 aid workers from Myanmar’s Rakhine State. More than 1,000 humanitarian staff have been forced to stop working following an outbreak of violence in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine, on 26 and 27 March.

Health Crisis in Rakhine State

Sunday, March 2, 2014
While the news that Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) will be allowed to continue their work in most of Burma is certainly welcome, the decision by the Burmese government to shut down MSF’s operations in Rakhine state continues a trend of denying rights to the Muslim population who lives there. The lack of medical care puts lives at risk, but the international community and media continue to focus primarily on the potential market that is Burma.

Activists: Burma's Foreign Aid Group Ban Puts Thousands at Risk

Monday, March 10, 2014
SITTWE, BURMA — In western Burma’s Rakhine state, authorities asked international aid group Doctors Without Borders (known by its French name Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) to cease operations after accusations of aid bias. Activists say the ban will leave nearly 700,000 people without access to much needed medical care in the country's second-most impoverished region.

Interview: Syria, Somalia Are Toughest Places for Aid Workers - MSF

Monday, May 13, 2013
Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the toughest places for aid workers, who not only struggle to reach vulnerable people due to conflict, but are also killed for being seen to help opposing groups, the head of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said.