UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN agencies have stepped up efforts to provide aid to refugees who are fleeing violence in Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh, said the world organization.
The United Nations and partners in Bangladesh have developed a plan to help up to 300,000 people by providing them with food, shelter, water, health care and other services until the end of the year, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a briefing on Friday.
UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock has released 7 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund to urgently help tens of thousands of people fleeing violence in Myanmar and seeking refuge in Bangladesh, said Dujarric.
Lowcock urgently called for unhindered access to help and protect all those in need.
The number of people who fled Myanmar's Rakhine State to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh in the past two weeks has reached 270,000, according to Lowcock's office. While, at first, people were mostly arriving in Bangladesh by land, more people are now making the journey by boat.
Five UN agencies, including the refugee agency, the migration agency, the children's fund and the World Food Program, are working in Cox's Bazar, said the spokesman.
Security operations in Rakhine following attacks late last month on Myanmar security forces by Rohingyas, a Muslim ethnic minority denied citizenship, have led to the flight of Rohingyas to Bangladesh.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned both the attacks on Myanmar security forces and reported violence by the security forces in their operations.
