Bangladesh Urges US To Help Rohingya Refugees

JAKARTA - Bangladesh urged the United States delegation visiting on Wednesday to provide new financial assistance to Rohingya refugees in the Cox's Bazar district that was affected by the recent UN food rations.

An important US official team met with Bangladeshi officials, Rohingya leaders, and UN agencies as well as donor organizations in Cox's Bazar during their visit.

Refugee Assistance and Repatriation Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman told Anadolu they held a meeting with the US delegation to share the latest developments on the Rohingya situation and repatriation efforts.

"We convey to the delegation that Rohingya refugees have experienced a severe situation due to cutting food rations. And as one of the main aid providers, the US can help ease the situation in Cox's Bazar," Rahman said as quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Thursday, July 13.

In response to requests for financial assistance, the US delegation assured Bangladesh the US would announce its main aid support in the next few days, Rahman said.

They also asked the US to step up repatriation efforts, including pressuring Myanmar to start repatriating Rohingya residents who had long fled to the country.

"We discussed the pilot program for repatriation by visiting Myanmar by Rohingya refugees and its development with the team.

"The dignified return of the Rohingya back to their home country, Myanmar is the Bangladeshi government's top priority," he added.

About 1.2 million ethnic Rohingya live in Bangladesh, the majority fleeing the brutal military crackdown which began in August 2017 in Rakhine State, Myanmar.

Most of them live in overcrowded camps in the Cox's Bazar district, but some 30 thousand of them have been relocated to the island of Bhasan Char since late 2020.

On June 1, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced a cut in food rations for Rohingya refugees to $8 (around IDR120,000) per month from the previous 10 US dollars (around IDR150 thousand) due to lack of funding.

Earlier in March, the allotment had been cut from $12 (approximately IDR 180 thousand) to $10 due to a lack of funding support.

One of the Rohingya refugee leaders Ansar Ali told Anadolu several fellow refugee leaders in Cox's Bazar had met with a team from the US.

Citing fellow refugees attending the meeting, Ali said "We express our concern over the cuts in rations by the United Nations, which destroyed our lives in refugee camps. Many pregnant women and children face serious malnutrition due to cutting food rations.

"We need additional assistance, food support, and other basic needs because refugees in the camps are fully dependent on assistance for their survival," he said.