Japan to contribute $3.5M in aid to Rohingya in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Japan has inked a partnership agreement with the UNHCR pledging $3.5 million in support to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The agreement aims to help the persecuted people living in two camps with essential services.
Bangladesh currently hosts over 1.2 million Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State following a brutal military crackdown in August 2017.
Since the beginning of the emergency in 2017, Japan has been a steadfast supporter of the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh, contributing over $170 million to UNHCR and other UN agencies and NGOs in Bangladesh, including through this new funding.
The contribution will be used to keep Rohingya refugees stationed in Cox’s Bazar and the remote island of Bhasan Char safe and will also provide humanitarian assistance.
“Japan was the first to support the humanitarian response on Bhasan Char. Its contribution has allowed UNHCR to strengthen local NGO work on the island, including providing protection and access to essential services,” said Johannes Van Der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, in an official statement.
According to the agreement, UNHCR will continue its humanitarian response in the camps in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char, focusing on providing key services such as legal and community-based protection, access to health, hygiene, and sanitation, nutrition support, and core relief items.
The agreement will help strengthen skills development and livelihood activities, as well as prepare for a safe and sustainable return to Myanmar once conditions are conducive.
The crisis is ongoing, and the lives of Rohingya refugees who have been described by the UN as the “most persecuted people in the world” remain dependent on humanitarian assistance.
According to the official statement, Japan’s assistance comes at a critical time, as the Rohingya crisis is one of the world’s most underfunded refugee situation.
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