Doctors Without Borders kicked out of western Myanmar

Doctors Without Borders kicked out of western Myanmar
February 28, 2014 11:00AM ET
Government objects to aid group's treating marginalized Rohingya minority and its stance on alleged massacre

Medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders has been forced to stop caring for sick people in a Myanmar state torn by sectarian violence after the group's license was suspended by the government over the humanitarian group's work with the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, local media reported Friday.

Myanmar's presidential spokesman Ye Htut told the Myanmar Freedom newspaper that the group's contract in Rakhine state would not be extended because they hired "Bengalis," the term the government uses for the Rohingya, and because it lacked transparency in its work.

He also criticized the group over its handling of patients following an attack in the remote northern part of the state last month. The government has vehemently denied allegations that a Buddhist mob rampaged through a village, killing women and children, but Doctors Without Borders said it treated 22 injured and traumatized Rohingya.

The United Nations says more than 40 Rohingya were killed in the attack, but the government says only one Buddhist policeman died.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/28/doctors-without-borderskickedoutofwesternmyanmar.html