Myanmar’s conflict-torn Rakhine state could face an imminent acute famine, UN report warns

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Development Programs is warning that Myanmar’s Rakhine state, home to the Rohingya minority and engulfed in conflict between government forces and a powerful ethnic group, could face an imminent acute famine. It says in a report issued Thursday that “a perfect storm is brewing” which has put western Rakhine “on the precipice of an unprecedented disaster.” It pointed to a chain of interlinked developments including restrictions on goods from elsewhere in Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh, the absence of income for residents, hyperinflation, significantly reduced food production, and a lack of essential services and social safety net. It says as a result, “an already highly vulnerable population may be on the brink of collapse in the coming months.”