The Burmese military regime's restriction on the flow of food donations from UN agencies to vulnerable people in Sittwe and Mandalay will bring a host of more serious problems for the people in the area, says a Sittwe resident.
In recent weeks, the regime's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters greatly hampered the World Food Program's distribution of food to 500,000 vulnerable people in different areas of Burma.
Burmese authorities stopped all movement of food commodities out of Mandalay and the unrest has also slowed down food delivery efforts in Sittwe, 560 km west of Rangoon, the WFP said. The port city was one of the centers of protests, which began on August 19 following a hike in fuel prices.
Recently, the Burmese authorities have allowed some emergency food distribution to flow out of Mandalay, but WFP still lacks access to Sittwe.
WFP tries to serve the vulnerable people in the country, mainly young children, HIV/AIDS patients and tuberculosis sufferers.
A Sittwe resident who requested anonymity told The Irrawaddy that most of the people in both cities do not have jobs with real income.
“People can not even afford to buy rotten fish to cook for their meal,” he said.
The economic collapse has brought more desperate people on to the streets begging for food in Sittwe, he said.
Arakan State also has more beggars and local residents say the number will increase if the authorities continue to ban international aid agencies.
According to the Alternative Asean Network on Burma, 60 percent of Rohingya children in northern Arakan State suffer from chronic malnutrition.
A resident of Sittwe, Ma Raywadi, said poverty was a major factor that led people to join protests against the military government.
In addition to poverty, healthcare in Burma is practically non-existent. Malaria is the country's leading cause of illness and death.
The World Health Organization ranks Burma's healthcare system as the world's second worst after Sierra Leone.
In recent weeks, the regime's brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters greatly hampered the World Food Program's distribution of food to 500,000 vulnerable people in different areas of Burma.
Burmese authorities stopped all movement of food commodities out of Mandalay and the unrest has also slowed down food delivery efforts in Sittwe, 560 km west of Rangoon, the WFP said. The port city was one of the centers of protests, which began on August 19 following a hike in fuel prices.
Recently, the Burmese authorities have allowed some emergency food distribution to flow out of Mandalay, but WFP still lacks access to Sittwe.
WFP tries to serve the vulnerable people in the country, mainly young children, HIV/AIDS patients and tuberculosis sufferers.
A Sittwe resident who requested anonymity told The Irrawaddy that most of the people in both cities do not have jobs with real income.
“People can not even afford to buy rotten fish to cook for their meal,” he said.
The economic collapse has brought more desperate people on to the streets begging for food in Sittwe, he said.
Arakan State also has more beggars and local residents say the number will increase if the authorities continue to ban international aid agencies.
According to the Alternative Asean Network on Burma, 60 percent of Rohingya children in northern Arakan State suffer from chronic malnutrition.
A resident of Sittwe, Ma Raywadi, said poverty was a major factor that led people to join protests against the military government.
In addition to poverty, healthcare in Burma is practically non-existent. Malaria is the country's leading cause of illness and death.
The World Health Organization ranks Burma's healthcare system as the world's second worst after Sierra Leone.
