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Sittwe, Myanmar: Tens of thousands of people displaced by conflict in western
Myanmar’s Rakhine state and living in temporary camps have inadequate
sanitation, poor hygiene conditions and limited access to safe water,
increasing health risks to people in and near the sites.
Vulnerable groups, including children, are at greatest risk
of diseases like diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases. Out of the estimated
115,000 internally displaced people in Rakhine, about 85,000 are currently
housed in and around Sittwe. About 5 per
cent of them, predominantly ethic Rakhines, live in urban sites, while 95 per
cent -- mostly Rohingyas – are in rural sites.
“In spite of the progress made so far in providing
humanitarian support for the people of Rakhine state, much more needs to be
done, especially in rural areas, to protect children and their families from
illnesses that result from unsafe water and a lack of adequate sanitation,”
said Bertrand Bainvel, the UNICEF Representative in Myanmar.
While access and coverage of water and sanitation for people
in camps in urban areas has improved, rural sites have much bigger numbers of
internally displaced people and are in less accessible locations. A lack of
space and congested living environments mean they have worse latrines and
poorer hygiene. Surveys showed just over half of all displaced people have
access to what is considered safe water.
About 70 per cent have access to some sanitation and 60 per cent have
access to basic sanitary supplies.
Drainage and solid waste disposal are major challenges in
both urban and rural sites, as the use of temporary accommodation is prolonged
and the rainy season is looming.
According to rapid surveys earlier this year, water for
domestic uses – washing and cleaning – is available, yet access to safe
drinking water is limited. The surveys found that the large majority of
internally displaced did not boil their water because of a lack of firewood and
awareness about hygiene issues. Nearly 70 per cent of people did not have
adequate water storage capacities or suitable containers.
Ground water lifted through hand pumps and rainwater stored
in tanks serve as sources of drinking water for most of the displaced.
Some locations, including those with displaced who have
arrived since October, do not have ground water sources, and stored rainwater
supplies are expected to run out by late January 2013. The rainy season does
not set in until May and there are no easy solutions to water shortages.
Desalination and transportation of water are expensive and labour-intensive.
Ensuring regular provision of alternative sources of drinking water will be a
significant challenge unless people move back to their places of origin.
The sanitation situation also poses challenges. Temporary
pit latrines are being used by large numbers of people and fill up rapidly -
roughly every three months - without drainage and proper waste disposal. Space
constraints, high costs and complex logistics make it impossible to relocate
the latrines in many sites. About 35 per cent of people currently practice open
defecation – a practice that predates the current conflict. Rakhine state
traditionally has high rates of open defecation compared to other parts of
Myanmar.
Once the rains start, overflow from pit latrines combined
with flooding in areas where open defecation is normal could create intolerable
environmental pollution and the spread of water and sanitation-related
diseases. The absence of proper lighting in displaced sites raises security
concerns and dignity issues for people, particularly women and children, who
are obliged to use latrines in the evenings or at night.
To date, UNICEF and its water, sanitation, and hygiene
sector (WASH) partners focused on distributing basic hygiene items, providing
latrines and bathing areas, operating safe solid waste disposal and drainage
systems, constructing safe water supplies, and hygiene promotion.