Families in a camp identified by officials as a predominantly Buddhist IDP camp sheltering under plastic tarps at a primary school. Photo: U.S. Embassy Rangoon via Facebook

The violence which erupted in the central Myanmar town on March 20 left at least 43 dead, with officials saying 1,594 houses were destroyed in riots and some 12,000 people left homeless, most of whom are being sheltered at refugee camps nearby.

Myanmar Times quote the official as saying the relief efforts had received more than half a million US dollars in donations and aid.

Quoting Mandalay Attorney General Ye Aung Myint, the report said that it remained unclear how many of the displaced—the vast majority of whom are Muslims—would be willing to return to their former neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, a report released recently by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said that of the 12,000 who fled Meiktila during the communal strife, some 8,400 remain in camps.

UNOCHA said an inter-agency assessment had concluded that “urgent needs remained” in food, shelter, non-food-items (NFIs) including clothes, water, sanitation and hygiene sectors in the camps.

“At the time of the assessment [March 24-31], the respondents from 85 percent of the assessed locations (17 camps) were relying on food aid, while 30 percent (six camps) did not have access to markets,” the report said. “Health assistance was also a concern as 36 percent (seven camps) did not have access to health facilities in their locations of displacement. Despite ongoing shelter assistance, about 40 percent (eight camps) did not have access to suitable shelter. Approximately 60 percent (12 camps) reported limited access to drinking water and 17 percent (three camps) did not have access to functioning latrines.”

However, UNOCHA said, there have been no reports of disease outbreak, and regular distributions of basic foods such as pulses, oil, rice, salt and blended food for pregnant and lactating mothers have been received at the camps.