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EU releases $11m grant for Rohingyas


Published : 02 Jan 2020 09:11 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 10:46 AM

The European Commission has released $11.19 million in humanitarian support for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and the displaced people in Myanmar’s Rakhine. The new instalment of funding, announced on December 23 last year, brought the EU’s total support for the Rohingya crisis through 2019 to $48.11 million, it said in a statement.

It said the new funding will focus on providing quality health care and help address the under-nutrition for the one million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, after living conditions further deteriorated over the last months.
It will also provide food nutrition and protection for all displaced people living in Myanmar's Rakhine state, where the humanitarian  

situation has further deteriorated this year due to the escalation of violence in the region, the statement added. European Union’s (EU) Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said, “The EU's support has helped save countless lives over the last two years since the crisis began, but cannot stop now as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya rely on humanitarian aid to survive. Today's additional funding is another clear sign that the EU remains committed to stand by the side of the Rohingya for as long as it takes.

“We will continue to support both refugees and host communities in Cox's Bazar, as well as the vulnerable Rohingya people left in Myanmar. At the same time, the EU continues to work to secure the conditions for the safe, dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingya to Myanmar,” Lenarčič added.

Bangladesh is currently hosting over nearly 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims who have fled persecution of the Myanmar military in Rakhine
Since 2017, the EU has provided over €140 million in aid to respond to the Rohingya crisis both in Myanmar and in Bangladesh. This includes basic humanitarian assistance for Rohingya populations (both for those who have been living in displacement in Bangladesh for many years, and for the newly arrived), and host communities living close to the refugee settlements.

The EU provides shelters, health care, water and sanitation support, nutrition assistance, education, and protection services.
Approximately 600,000 remaining Rohingya people in Myanmar's Rakhine continue to suffer from a protracted humanitarian crisis, with very limited access to basic services and viable livelihood opportunities due to strict movement restrictions and denied citizenship and rights.

In 2019, fresh conflict between the Myanmar military and the ethnic armed group Arakan Army displaced more people including ethnic minorities in the Rakhine. The total number of new internally displaced persons in Rakhine State has risen to 70,000 spread over 106 sites, according to the EU.