United States announces additional $180 million humanitarian aid for Rohingya refugees

The United States on Wednesday, 22 September, announced an additional $180 million to aid over 700,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. According to a press release, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced the additional humanitarian assistance for those affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh, Myanmar and elsewhere in the region. 

Price said, “With this new funding, our total humanitarian assistance for this response reaches more than USD 1.5 billion since August 2017, when more than 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee ethnic cleansing and other horrific atrocities and abuses in Burma's [Myanmar's] Rakhine State to safety in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh”. 

Further, Price went on to say that the Myanmar military must immediately stop the violence, release all those unjustly detained, restore the nation’s path to democracy and implement ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus. He called on the Junta to allow “immediate and unhindered humanitarian access” to people in need, including for the delivery of critical COVID-19 assistance. Price even lauded the humanitarian actors for a strong and well-coordinated humanitarian response. 

Rohingya refugee crisis 

Myanmar was engulfed in a fresh crisis earlier this year as the junta toppled the democratic government and claimed control while triggering nationwide protests amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to Bangladesh in 2017, when the military in Myanmar began a harsh crackdown on the Muslim ethnic group following an attack by insurgents. According to AP, the 2017 crackdown included rape, killings and torching thousands of homes. 

It was even termed as ‘ethnic cleansing’ by global rights groups and the UN. The Rohingyas who now still remains in the country, on the other hand, have flagged several instances of discrimination and mistreatment in the country. It is worth mentioning that Myanmar does not recognise the Muslim minority as its citizens. Even though Bangladesh and Myanmar have sought to arrange repatriations, the Rohingyas are fearful to return home. 

(With inputs from ANI)