$852.4m needed to support Rohingyas, Bangladeshi hosts: UN

The UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, with other humanitarian partners, has called on the international community to redouble efforts to protect and assist Rohingya refugees and their host communities at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is generously hosting over a million Rohingyas, most of whom fled Myanmar seven years ago in the face of a genocide perpetrated by Myanmar military.

The 2024 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis was launched in Geneva on Wednesday under the leadership of the Bangladeshi authorities, reports UNB.

The funding appeal seeks $852.4 million to reach some 1.35 million people including Rohingya refugees and host communities.

The plan and related financial needs is being presented to donors in Geneva by Masud Bin Momen, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh; Mohammad Tofazzel Hossain Miah, Principal Secretary to the Bangladesh Prime Minister; Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees; and Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organisation for Migration.
International solidarity with Bangladesh and refugee protection is needed more than ever as the conflict in Myanmar escalates, said the UN agency.

The Joint Response Plan brought together 117 partners, nearly half of them Bangladeshi organisations.

It aimed to help some 1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and on the island of Bhasan Char, and 346,000 from host communities, with food, shelter, health care, access to drinkable water, protection services, education and livelihood opportunities and skills development.

Some 95 percent of Rohingya households in Bangladesh are vulnerable and remain dependent on humanitarian assistance.