The demand has been made by protesters who have been gathering for an hour each day outside MSF’s office in the state capital, Sittwe, since February 21.

In an email to Mizzima on February 25, MSF’s deputy head of mission in Myanmar, Simon Tyler, who is based in Sittwe, said the organization was “always willing to engage in reasonable dialogue with local residents”.

The email referred to MSF’s recent participation at a meeting in Mrauk-U attended by representatives of the Rakhine community, township, district and state authorities and representatives of the European Union and other humanitarian organizations.

“We call on the authorities to facilitate more dialogue of this nature and to be more proactive in informing local residents about the activities of humanitarian organizations,” Mr Tyler said in the email.

“MSF is very concerned at the recent spate of protests in Rakhine and threats of further action by some members of the Rakhine community,” the email said.

It called for more development support and investment for all the people of Rakhine, adding that “ultimately the problems in the state are rooted in political causes and long-standing tensions between the different communities.

“The medical humanitarian assistance MSF provides cannot solve these tensions; only local and national political leaders have the power to bring an end to the problems in Rakhine.

“This is not the role of an organization such as MSF, but the responsibility of community leaders and the government,” the email said.

More than 30 civil society organizations in Rakhine have written to President U Thein Sein to demand the immediate expulsion from the state of MSF, which they accuse of showing discrimination in providing assistance to the victims of conflict in the state.

MSF was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 in recognition of its “pioneering humanitarian work on several continents”.