The Red Cross is faced with a "real challenge" following the Rohingya refugee crisis triggered by violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State, a senior official of the international humanitarian organisation has said.
"The specificity of the situation is that only the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement is allowed to work in Rakhine State as humanitarian help," Christine Beerli, Vice President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told IANS in an interview.
"So, it is a real challenge because the needs are big, the situation is tense," said Beerli, who was here to attend the International Conference on Certain Conventional Weapons.More than 625,000 Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh since violence erupted in Rakhine late in August.
The minority Rohingya community does not enjoy citizenship in Myanmar and is sparingly given refugee status in Bangladesh.
Human rights monitors accused Myanmar's military of atrocities against the minority population during its clearance operations following Rohingya militants' August 25 attacks on multiple government posts.
Last month, however, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor of Myanmar Kyaw Tint Swe signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Nay Pyi Taw for the return of these refugees.
India has maintained that the issue should be handled in a humane manner, development activities should be
initiated in Rakhine and conditions should be created for the safe and secure return of the refugees to their homes.