Attachments
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
· Fighting between Government of Burma (GoB) forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)—which has been ongoing for the past 15 months—temporarily displaced an additional 10,000 people from northern Kachin State in September, with approximately 80 percent of the displacement occurring in Hpakant township, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As of September 6, an estimated 70,000 people remained displaced as a result of fighting in Kachin and Shan states, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports. Many internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge at camps supported by UNHCR, while others are residing among host communities. In August, the Government of the People’s Republic of China (GoPRC) began returning some of the estimated 7,000 Kachin refugees residing in China to Burma.
· In late September, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon engaged in talks with GoB President Thein Sein regarding the humanitarian situation for the approximately 70,000 people who remain displaced in Burma’s western Rakhine State as a result of sectarian violence that broke out in early June, as well as longer-term issues regarding the status of approximately 800,000 members of the Rohingya ethnic group living in Burma.
· In FY 2012, USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) provided more than $1.7 million to support conflict-affected populations in Burma’s Rakhine, Kachin, and Shan states. In addition, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) provided $4.5 million to meet emergency food needs, while the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Mitigation (State/PRM) provided nearly $24 million to address the humanitarian needs of conflict-affected populations, including IDPs in Burma and Burmese refugees and asylum seekers residing in Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, and Thailand. In total, the U.S. Government provided approximately $30 million in humanitarian assistance to assist conflict-affected populations in Burma, as well as refugees and asylum seekers from Burma residing in neighboring countries, in FY 2012.