UNITED NATIONS: Unregistered people who have fled the violence in neighbouring Myanmar’s Rakhine state should be allowed to get help from non-governmental organisations in Bangladesh, UN refugee agency said on Tuesday.

A UN press statement noted three non-governmental organisations – Médecins Sans Frontières, Action Contre La Faim and Muslim Aid UK – were ordered by the Bangladeshi authorities to stop their activities in and around unofficial camps near Cox’s Bazar in the southeast.”

“If the order is implemented it will have a serious humanitarian impact on some 40,000 unregistered people who had fled Myanmar in recent years and settled in the Leda and Kutupalong makeshift sites,” a UN spokesperson said, noting that locals nearby will also be affected as they have also benefited from basic services provided by the NGOs.

In June, serious disturbances in Rakhine state in western Myanmar led to the country’s Government declaring a state of emergency there.

According to reports, the violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims left at least a dozen civilians dead and hundreds of homes destroyed, while affecting some 80,000 people, many of whom fled to Bangladesh.

In addition to the unregistered population, UNHCR said there were some 30,000 registered people living in two official camps in Bangladesh.