Asia and the Pacific: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (24 - 30 January 2017)

BANGLADESH

As of 25 January and following a new round of verification, aid agencies in Cox's Bazar estimate that 13,000 families (69,000 people) from Myanmar have arrived since October 2016. New arrivals are residing in registered camps, makeshift settlements and in host communities. The rate of people crossing the border is understood to have decreased, and from 20 to 26 January partners reported only one new family arrived in Leda Makeshift Settlement (LMS). However, services are under strain; NGO partners have reported that the water supply in LMS is running out and sufficient for two more months. Family tracing services for unaccompanied children also need to be expanded.

69,000 new arrivals

PHILIPPINES

As of 30 January, about 100,000 people are displaced by flooding in Caraga region (northeastern Mindanao) due to successive weather systems affecting the area. Over 80,000 displaced people are in Agusan del Sur province. Local governments and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have distributed food packs, dignity kits and emergency shelter.

100,000 people displaced

On 26 January, 5,700 people in Ampatuan municipality (Maguindanao province) were displaced by a joint law enforcement operation conducted by the military and police against non-state armed actors.
The affected people were evacuated to the town centre. The regional disaster management authority provided food and relief items.

MYANMAR

In Maungdaw north (Rakhine State), more than 23,000 people are estimated to be internally displaced – this area is the most affected by the 9 October attacks and subsequent security operations. Since 13 January, emergency food distributions have reached almost 35,000 people in Maungdaw north. While distribution of food and other relief items by national staff is now permitted, protection activities remain suspended. Health services have resumed in some areas, but coverage of services is uneven and turn-out has been low, including for vaccination services. Most international staff remain confined to the township centres of Maungdaw and Buthidaung.

23,000 internally displaced people

As a result of intensified conflict between the Myanmar Military and ethnic armed groups over recent months, close to 11,000 people are newly-displaced across Kachin (7,000 people) and Shan (4,000 people) states. Three camps in areas beyond Government control in Kachin have been left empty as a result of fighting. A growing number of people have been displaced multiple times in recent months. The displacement across both states is being driven by escalation in hostilities close to camps and in civilian areas since November 2016.

INDONESIA

Between 25 and 28 January, flooding in North and Central Sulawesi, Bangka Belitung, South Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, East Java and Yogyakarta provinces directly affected at least 16,700 people. The flash floods caused two deaths in East Java and one death in Central Sulawesi.
Emergency responses were carried out by local provincial disaster management offices. The national weather bureau forecasts no extreme weather for the upcoming week.