US announces $199m in additional aid for Rohingyas, Bangladesh host communities
The United States (US) has announced an additional $199million in humanitarian assistance to support Rohingyas and host communities inBangladesh and across the region.
US Department of State Under Secretary for CivilianSecurity, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya made the announcement at aRohingya-focused side event during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)high-level week in New York, according to a press release received onWednesday.
The new aid package includes over $129 million from the USAgency for International Development (USAID) and nearly $70 million from the USDepartment of State.
The assistance is aimed at addressing the urgent needs ofmore than 610,000 Rohingyas facing acute food insecurity, with USAID’scontribution including $78 million from the US Department of Agriculture’sCommodity Credit Corporation.
This will help purchase, ship, and distribute approximately52,200 tons of food commodities from American farmers to affected communitiesin Bangladesh.
The funding will also support international organizationssuch as the International Rescue Committee, Unicef, and the UN World FoodProgram in providing critical food, nutrition, and protection assistance toboth Rohingya refugees and the host communities in Cox’s Bazar.
The US government has contributed over $2.5 billion to theregional response, including more than $2.1 billion to Bangladesh alone sincethe Rohingya crisis began in 2017.
The US continues to call on other international donors tostep up their contributions to address the critical funding gaps and meet theneeds of the most vulnerable populations impacted by the crisis.
Since August 25 in 2017, Bangladesh has been hosting overmillion forcefully displaced Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and most of themarrived there after a military crackdown by Myanmar, which the UN called a"textbook example of ethnic cleansing" and other rights groups dubbedit as "genocide".
In the last seven years, not a single Rohingya went backhome.
Myanmar agreed to take them back, but the repatriationattempts failed twice due to trust deficit among the Rohingyas about theirsafety and security in Rakhine state.
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