A/HRC/34/67 68. As of 4 November, due to pre-existing humanitarian services having been suspended in most parts of northern Rakhine, more than 150,000 people went without their normal cash and food and nutrition assistance; 3,400 children already diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition did not have access to their usual life-saving treatment; over 2,900 children who have been cured of severe acute malnutrition could not obtain their follow-up treatment and faced a high risk of relapsing; and the cases of 42,000 people, including 37,000 children with moderate acute malnutrition, were at high risk of deteriorating into severe acute malnutrition cases.12 An estimated 7,600 pregnant women were also unable to access continuing medical care.13 Reportedly, Hindu community members in Maungdaw also suffered from food shortages, lack of medical services and other challenges as a result of movement restrictions and security operations. As of 13 February 2017, some 69,000 people were estimated by the United Nations and humanitarian organizations in Bangladesh to have crossed into Bangladesh following the 9 October attacks. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that an additional 24,000 Rohingya people were internally displaced in Maungdaw north. By the end of January 2017, the majority of the ethnic Rakhine and Mro who had been displaced from their homes had returned, although around 272 Rakhine and Mro people remained displaced in Maungdaw and Buthidaung. 69. Humanitarian access was eventually incrementally allowed, at times in an almost ad hoc way. For example, following the Government-led diplomatic mission comprising the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and the ambassadors or heads of missions from nine embassies to visit selected northern Rakhine villages on 2 and 3 November 2016, a commitment was made for the resumption of humanitarian activities. However, WFP was able to deliver two-weeks’ worth of food rations to only four villages between 8 and 10 November subsequent to that commitment. Furthermore, those were oneoff deliveries permitted to be conducted by national staff only. 70. Just prior to the Special Rapporteur’s visit, it was announced that WFP had been given access to 43 village tracts (containing 151 villages) in Maungdaw north with regular operations resuming in that area, although the restriction against international staff stood at the time of writing of the present report. As of 2 February 2017, while health clinics and nutrition centres had reopened in some areas, it appeared that fewer people had been accessing them, as the situation remained tense and movement confined through a strict travel authorization regime. 71. In the immediate aftermath of the 9 October attacks and subsequent security operations, information was difficult to obtain regarding the situation in northern Rakhine. Independent media were not allowed in, and while an “Information Committee” was formed under the State Counsellor’s Office, much of the information being released appeared similar to that released by the Ministry of Defence. Following further international pressure, a government-managed visit by a group of journalists was allowed to northern Rakhine from 20 to 22 December 2016, accessing almost the same areas as the earlier diplomatic mission. No explanation was given on how participants were selected and there appeared to be little reporting following the visit. One tragic outcome was the reported beheading of a villager in an apparent act of retaliation for having spoken to the journalists. The circumstances surrounding that killing remain unclear although the Government has reported that the group responsible for the 9 October attacks was behind that, as well as 13 other reported killings. To date, that remains unconfirmed and independent media and human rights monitors still have no access to the north of Rakhine. 2. Allegations of human rights violations 72. Following the 9 October attacks and the launch of the security operations, reports began surfacing, increasingly and persistently, regarding serious human rights violations 12 13 See Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Update on the situation in Rakhine State – 4 November 2016”, e-mail to OHCHR, 4 Nov. 2016. See OCHA, “OCHA Update — Humanitarian situation in the northern part of Rakhine State, Myanmar — 13 December 2016”. Available at http://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/ocha-updatehumanitarian-situation-northern-part-rakhine-state-myanmar-13-december. 13