EU sends $23M in humanitarian aid for Rohingya

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Commission announced on Friday an additional €22 million ($23.3 million) in humanitarian aid for the Rohingya community.

The aid will provide shelter, food and health assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and their host communities, as well as displaced Rohingya and other conflict-affected people in Myanmar, the EU’s executive body said in a statement.

“The EU’s new aid package underlines our commitment to the most vulnerable refugees and their host communities in Bangladesh, as well as conflict-affected population in Myanmar,” said Janez Lenarcic, EU commissioner for crisis management.

He emphasized that “sustained international solidarity is essential” because the Rohingya crisis has reached unprecedented proportions.

According to the UN, the number of people in humanitarian need in Myanmar has sharply risen from 1 million to over 14.4 million in a year.

Described by the UN as “the most persecuted minority in the world,” the Rohingya faced a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine state in Myanmar in August 2017.

Thousands of Rohingya have been killed by Myanmar forces, while more than 1 million have fled in successive waves of displacement since the 1990s, according to the UN refugee agency.

Bangladesh alone hosts around 1.2 million Rohingya who have fled the violence and persecution since 2017.