GENEVA: The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Friday warned of more severe humanitarian crisis in Myanmar due to the escalating sectarian clashes between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Our staff who have visited camps for both displaced communities in Sittwe have found children, women, elderly people and men sleeping on the ground, desperate for heavy tarpaulins, blankets and mosquito nets," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told the press.

He added that the organization was also concerned about the "possibility of outbreaks of disease" because of poor water supplies and sanitation during the rainy season.

UNHCR estimates that close to 90,000 people may have been affected by the violence, including those displaced and those too frightened to leave their homes. There are now more than 70 sites for displaced people, including camps and monasteries.

The UN aid agency is currently running a humanitarian operation in the area to deliver basic needs to those affected.


- Bernama