Diplomatic Correspondent :
A British high official on Monday warned that global funds to aid the Rohingya refugees, who took shelter at makeshift settlement in Bangladesh’s border town Cox’s Bazar, will start to dry in 100 days.
Over 600,000 Rohingyas crossed the border into Bangladesh since August 25, the day Myanmar military began a crackdown in Rakhine state, ensuing a humanitarian catastrophe in Cox’s Bazar.
“Global funding to support the Rohingya people will only meet urgent needs for the next 100 days. We cannot turn our backs on those trapped in crisis,” said UK International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt during a visit to Cox’s Bazar.
The UK will stand by Bangladesh and the Rohingya people in the future, she said. She also announced of £12 million UK aid for providing urgently needed food for Rohingya people and ensuring more lives are not put at risk when international funding starts to run out in February 2018.
Of the funds, £8 million will go to ensuring assistance, including the security of women and girls, while £4 million has been allocated to the World Food Bank and is currently being used to provide food assistance.
“Other countries must follow our lead and do even more to help children overcome the trauma of war, reunite them with their families and give a future to the next generation,” said Penny Mordaunt.
The UK earlier provided £59 million as part of its aid support to the Rohingya refugees.
The UK’s aid effort is currently providing emergency food to 174,000, nutritional support to over 60,000 children under the age of five and over 21,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women, safe drinking water, emergency latrines and water cans for over 131,000 and emergency shelter for over 130,000.
The UK International Development secretary highlighted the prevalence of sexual and gender based violence experienced by Rohingya women and girls to mark International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.
“The countless stories of sexual violence I have heard from Rohingya women and girls are truly shocking and the high rates of this crime across the world are a global scandal.
The UK is absolutely determined to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls and we are increasing protection for Rohingya women and girls against sexual violence and exploitation,” she added.
The UK also pledged a separate £12 million to the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women to help 750,000 women and girls in multiple countries around the world. Some of these funds may later be allocated to Bangladesh.
Mordaunt also called for an end to the violence against Rohingyas and a process to ensure the safe return of the refugees to their homeland in Myanmar.
“The persistent persecution of the Rohingya people in Rakhine State must stop. It is horrifying that hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children have had their homes burnt to the ground, and parents have been forced to helplessly watch as their children die from hunger.
“The events in Rakhine look like ethnic cleansing. The Burmese authorities need to stop the violence and ensure immediate access into northern Rakhine so that UK aid can provide a lifeline to those still suffering in Rakhine State. Unacceptable intimidation and restrictions on the movement of humanitarian workers must be ended. Burma must work with international partners to put in place the conditions that will allow people to return to their homes safely, with dignity and hope for the future,” she added.
Mordaunt praised the Government of Bangladesh and the local communities for their continued generosity in helping the Rohingya people and also urged other countries to follow the UK’s lead by promising longer-term support to avert the disaster.
The United Nations (UN) on 23 October 2017 held a pledging conference in Geneva under the leadership of UK that helped to secure $300 million of international support to meet urgent humanitarian need of Rohingya refuges.
However, the UN appeal only covers the months up to February 2018, and more international pledges are required to meet ongoing desperate need.
