Rohingya crisis fund ‘lack of needs’: UN refugee agency
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that appeals to help Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are “lacking in need”, as refugees called on donors not to forget the crisis ahead of the fifth anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar.
More than a million Rohingya living in illegal camps in southern Bangladesh, which include the world’s largest refugee settlement, have little chance of returning to Myanmar, where they are mostly denied citizenship and other rights.
“For the approximately one million stateless Rohingya refugees, conditions in Bangladesh are extremely overcrowded, and they are completely dependent on humanitarian aid for their survival,” the UNHCR said.
“The most common needs include proper nutrition, shelter materials, sanitation facilities and livelihood opportunities,” a UNHCR statement said.
It said its 2022 response plan sought more than $881 million for more than 1.4 million people, including Rohingya refugees and more than half a million most affected host communities. So far, it was funded at only 49 percent, with $426.2 million being received.
“While the support of the international community has been and is important in providing life-saving protection and support services for Rohingya refugees, the funding needed is very small.”
The refugees said it was important that the world not forget the plight of the Rohingya, who are unable to return to Myanmar, but have little future in Bangladesh, who do not have access to work.
“The global community should not forget our plight. They should help us as much as possible,” Mohammad Tahir, a Rohingya refugee in Bangladesh, told Reuters.
“We are not allowed to work here. We must depend on aid agencies for food,” he said.
The Rohingya say they want their security guaranteed and should be recognized as citizens before returning. The United Nations says that the conditions for the return are not yet right.
The vast majority fled to neighboring Bangladesh during a military crackdown in 2017, which the United Nations has said was carried out with the intention of genocide.
Myanmar denies the massacre, saying it was conducting a legitimate campaign against insurgents attacking police posts.
Myanmar is facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague over the violence.
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