The attacks started on Wednesday at the Malteser International office, a Germany-based aid group assisting with health care and disaster relief services in the area. Police fired warning shots in the air at angry Rakhine mobs that pelted the compound with stones.

The mob moved on to staff residences. The UNICEF, UNOCHA and Solidarity International offices were reportedly targeted. It wasn’t until nearly midnight that police with the help of Buddhist monks stopped the violence. About seventy-one aid workers, including thirty-two foreigners, were evacuated from homes and offices to the local police station, many later being flown to Rangoon.

Wednesday’s violence erupted after a Malteser International program coordinator removed a Buddhist flag placed in protest of the census, according to Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing. She placed it in her pocket, which was interpreted by some locals as disrespectful because of the flag’s proximity to her lower body, he explained.

An anonymous Malteser staff member said the removal of the flag was mandatory to follow in line with the aid group’s policy to not promote religion. “Our housekeeper flew one of these flags at our office which the programme coordinator removed later on March 26, at about 6, or 6:30pm, in accordance with our policy of no religious or political insignia. She did not disrespect the flag in any way.”

It didn’t take long for a mob of 50 to arrive at the Malteser office.  After two hours shouting become increasingly threatening, calling for the program coordinator to come out of the office.

“All our windows were smashed with rocks, and equipment was destroyed and the situation was very worrying and difficult to make sense of because of a lack of available information,” said the anonymous staff member.

“I would like to stress that this is a broader issue of antagonism towards INGOs, not an isolated response to the flag incident.”

Many groups suffered extensive damage to office equipment and other documents, said an anonymous staff from another NGO.

Most of the Rakhine community around Sittwe is opposed to international groups to provide humanitarian aid support for Rohingyas, despite the widespread malnutrition and a range of other health problems they are suffering from displacement and statelessness.

Malteser International, with a staff of 200, was the second largest aid group focusing on health care. MSF, the largest, was forced by the government to leave the state after pushing for an independent inquiry into the deaths of dozens of Rohingya massacred in Du Char Yar Tan l

Critics say this latest violence directed at Malteser International and other NGOs is evidence of an organized campaign by Arakanese nationalists to target all international humanitarian groups working with the Muslim population.