Bangkok-Fighting in northern Myanmar's Kachin State has displaced 30,000 people and could turn into a humanitarian crisis unless the international community is allowed access to the remote region, a humanitarian advocacy group said Friday.
Refugees International called on the United Nations and non-governmental organizations to pressure the government to allow humanitarian aid access to the area.

The Washington-based group said it found evidence during a two-week study tour of ethnic minority areas in Myanmar of widespread human rights abuses in Kachin State, where the army has been fighting the Kachin Independence Organization for the past year.
'Tensions with the Kachin Independence Organization have reached a boiling point, with the potential for a serious humanitarian crisis,' said Lynn Yoshikawa, South-East Asia advocate for Refugees International.

The group's report came at a time of growing international optimism about Myanmar's commitment to political reforms.
President Thein Sein has opened a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, freed more than 300 political prisoners and in November initiated ceasefire agreements with rebel groups fighting for the Karen, Chin and Shan ethnic minorities.

'It's really only happening with the Kachin,' Yoshikawa said. 'We don't want the Kachin situation to stop the reforms that are happening at the centre, but at the same time, we can't let tens of thousands of internally displaced people to suffer because it doesn't fit into the international narrative.'

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