EU provides Tk62 crore aid for Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has welcomed the European Union's generous contribution of Tk62 crore or 6.2 million euro tol support UNHCR's continued protection and assistance of Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh.

The donation was made though DG ECHO, the Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department of the European Commission, which remains one of UNHCR's key donors for humanitarian aid to the  Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh, reads a press releaase.

"ECHO's contribution enables us to provide quality protection and humanitarian assistance in a coordinated and accountable manner. As the humanitarian response for Rohingya  refugees and host communities in Cox's Bazar is entering its sixth year, the sustained support of the European Union to UNHCR's activities in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar and on Bhasan Char remains invaluable," said Johannes Van Der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh.

"Nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh continue to live in dire conditions and require our unwavering support, particularly when it comes to protection," said Anna  Orlandini, who oversees EU humanitarian programs in Bangladesh.

"This contribution to UNHCR will ensure that refugees, particularly the most vulnerable and at risk, are provided  with adequate and meaningful protection services to improve their safety, dignity and wellbeing."

This contribution from ECHO, one of UNHCR's essential partners and largest donors globally, will support monitoring of refugees' safety and well-being, and any potential risks, while ensuring refugees' access to legal assistance, strengthening of prevention and response of gender-based violence, access for children to protection and assistance  services.

Five years after being forced to flee violence and atrocities in Myanmar, currently over 910,000 Rohingya refugees are hosted in Bangladesh, in densely populated camps in  Cox's Bazar, with an additional 30,000 refugees residing on Bhasan Char.