The UN needs $826 million to meet the needs of 6.2 million people in Burma this year, the largest ever appeal for that country, a spokesman said on Tuesday (February 1st).
This " record
" appeal
represents "
more than double
" the funds requested last year, said the spokesman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations (Ocha), Jens Laerke.
Read alsoBurma: students and their teachers in limbo
This more "
ambitious plan (...) reflects the growing crisis
" in the country, which has descended into chaos since the February 1, 2021 putsch that ended a decade of democratic transition. The UN estimates that of the country's 54 million people, 25 million live in poverty and 14.4 million people need humanitarian aid, including five million children.
"
Conflict and insecurity are raging in many parts of the country and more than 400,000 people have been displaced since the military took power a year ago
," said Jens Laerke.
“
Thousands of displaced people live in appalling conditions, many in camps and sites for displaced people, others in host communities, and some have crossed borders into Thailand and India or took refuge in the jungle without adequate food, shelter, sanitation, protection or medical care
,” he said.
1500 people killed by the Burmese junta
He called for humanitarian agencies to be allowed access to IDP sites so that they can assess the needs of the people there and assist them.
The funds requested to help the Burmese population are based "
on an objective assessment of needs, and not on our ability to provide aid
", said the spokesperson, who underlined the "
worrying
" humanitarian needs in the cities.
The UN calls for "
direct and unimpeded access to those we estimate to be in need of assistance
", he said.
The military coup a year ago plunged Burma into chaos.
According to a report published at the end of January by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 1,500 people have been killed by the junta since the coup, but this figure does not include thousands of other deaths related to the armed conflict and violence that escalated across the country.
Of the 1,500 people, at least 290 people died in custody.
According to the UN, at least 11,787 people have been arbitrarily detained for expressing their opposition to the army in peaceful protests or online and 8,792 are still in detention.