US announces $26m new humanitarian aid for Rohingyas
US state department has announced nearly $26 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the region.
With this new funding, our total assistance for those affected by the Rakhine State and Rohingya crisis has reached nearly $2.1 billion since August 2017, reads a press statement issued by the US Department of State.
The announcement came during the launch of the 2023 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya refugee crisis on Wednesday (March).
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
This new funding includes nearly $24 million for programs specifically in Bangladesh, providing life-sustaining support to nearly 980,000 Rohingya refugees, many of them survivors of genocide, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing, and support to nearly 540,000 host community members in Bangladesh.
This assistance sees to it that children and young adults have access to education and vocational training, provides families with food and clean water, strengthens sanitation systems to prevent the spread of disease, supports the protection of Rohingya refugees' human rights and well-being, bolsters disaster preparedness, and helps combat the effects of climate change.
The US also urged other donors to contribute robustly to the humanitarian response and increase support to those driven from and affected by violence in Burma.
Recognising the generosity of Bangladesh government, the US reiterated its commitment to finding lasting solutions to this crisis, including the safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return and reintegration of displaced Rohingya when conditions in Burma allow.
According to the statement, an essential step in ending this crisis is ending the military regime's brutal repression of its people and agreeing to a pathway to an inclusive multiparty democracy.
