Press Releases & Updates - Latest News - Oxfam Hong Kong
Skip to main content
Start main content

Press Releases & Updates

10 DEC 2016

Oxfam signed a joint statement calling for the protection of and access to people affected by the conflict in Kachin and Northern Shan States, Myanmar

In early December, Oxfam signed a joint statement with ten other humanitarian and development NGOs operating in Kachin and Northern Shan States in Myanmar to express grave concern about the ongoing armed conflict and its recent intensification.

Oxfam and all signatories urge for the immediate cessation of the armed conflict in Kachin and Northern Shan, and the removal of all impediments and restrictions to humanitarian aid. Signatories also call on all actors to support, promote, respect and facilitate the protection of civilians, ensure their human rights and guarantee access to humanitarian assistance for all who are in need. Currently, due to the armed conflict, relief workers cannot gain access to the affected communities.

The security and humanitarian situation in Kachin and Northern Shan has continued to deteriorate throughout 2016. The intensification of armed conflict, threats to the safety of civilians, increasingly restricted access and declining funding all present an extremely concerning operational environment in Kachin. The new, secondary and tertiary displacements of civilians across Kachin and Northern Shan States in the past few weeks have had a devastating humanitarian impact.

Humanitarian aid must be allowed to move freely and efficiently to benefit the people in need, particularly food aid, as there is currently a threat to food security in the affected communities.

Oxfam has been working with communities, local civil society organisations, national NGOs, and government actors in Myanmar since the 1990s to overcome poverty and suffering. The armed conflict in Kachin and Shan States erupted in June 2011; Oxfam has been providing emergency relief to those in the conflict affected areas since 2012.

Signatories: Bridging Rural Integrated Development & Grassroots Empowerment (BRIDGE), Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), Kachin Development Group (KDG), Karuna Myanmar Social Solidarity (KMSS), Metta Development Foundation, Nyein Foundation, Oxfam, Plan International, Solidarités International, and Trócaire

-Ends-

Notes to editors:
A copy of the statement, ‘Humanitarian and Development NGOs and INGOs call for the protection and access of services to people affected by conflict in Kachin and Northern Shan States, Myanmar,’ is available for download: HERE

About Oxfam
Oxfam is a worldwide development organisation that mobilises the power of people against poverty.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Maggie Chum (Communications Officer)
Telephone: (852) 3120 5222 / (852) 6010 9961
Email: maggie.chum@oxfam.org.hk