Starvation risk deepens in Myanmar’s Rakhine state

New Delhi, Aug 17: Aid agencies have warned of a looming starvation crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, where conflict, military blockades, and economic collapse have left large parts of the population without access to food, reports BBC.

The World Food Programme (WFP) says it can reach only a fraction of those facing severe food insecurity after global funding to the agency fell sharply this year.

Rakhine, already scarred by communal violence in 2012 and the mass expulsion of Rohingyas in 2017, has been largely cut off from the rest of the country since 2023 as the military attempts to choke supplies to the insurgent Arakan Army.

The blockade has halted trade, restricted fishing, and driven up prices, while fighting has displaced thousands more.

Reports from the ground describe families resorting to extreme measures, including suicide, amid worsening hunger.

With many areas inaccessible to aid workers, humanitarian agencies warn that without urgent support, the region faces a full-scale disaster.