Myanmar: Humanitarian access in Central Rakhine (October 2018)

Most organizations (96%) continue to receive travel authorizations (TAs) for field access in central Rakhine but only after submitting detailed and restrictive paperwork outlining their planned activities. Of the 22 organizations that applied, 20 had their TAs approved during September. The highest number of TAs were granted in Sittwe, Pauktaw and Mrauk-U. The most common TA duration is a month. One organization had its TA request rejected and another received no response from the Coordination Committee. As a result, a total of 38 staff (4%) did not get the field access they requested. The locations affected by these rejections/lack of response were Kyaukphyu, Kyauktaw, Minbya, Mrauk-U, Myebon, Sittwe and Pauktaw. Three organizations faced gaps in their access to deliver services because they had to re-submit their TA applications, affecting their ability to deliver services to people in need.

It is still taking more than a week (9 days) for normal TA paperwork to be approved however in recent days special emergency TAs have been approved on-the-spot by the Government allowing for the delivery of urgent assistance to people affected by the Ohn Taw Chay IDP camp fire. OCHA has been coordinating this process with the government on behalf of partners. Five organizations provided ethnicity data about the people served by their projects, as part of their TA request. Three organizations did this voluntarily and two were specifically asked to provide this information. Construction approval delays continue to be a problem for three organizations, holding up infrastructure improvements which could provide more dignified and safer living conditions for people in need.