News Room /

Statement on IR's work in Rakhine State, Myanmar

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Islamic Relief is pleased to announce that our field staff in Myanmar have received permission to work in Rakhine State after closely monitoring the situation and pursuing opportunities to work in Myanmar.

Islamic Relief’s mandate is to support people irrespective of religious, political or ethnic affiliations in line with the humanitarian principles of neutrality and impartiality.  Our work in Rakhine Sate has been planned with a focus on raising standards of living for both the Muslim and Buddhist communities affected by the current conflict. The estimate of those internally displaced is currently around 60,000, most of who are being housed in camps.

An initial needs assessment in the Sittwe District of Rakhine has been conducted by our field staff. The plan for this first phase of activity is for a $600,000 programme that will distribute food, construct temporary housing and latrines in camps, as well as provide shelter materials in existing villages.

Islamic Relief’s history of work in Myanmar dates back to 2008 and 2009, during which we provided $1.2 million of relief and recovery support to over 100,000 people affected by Cyclone Nargis, including work directly with Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Muslim communities.

Working with these communities and local NGOs, we rebuilt schools and decontaminated drinking water ponds as well as provided food, hygiene and household kits, shelters, schooling supplies, fishing boats, and agricultural support in Dedaye, Labutta and Kyauktan townships.