Canadians donate over CAN$12M to aid Rohingya

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Canadians have donated CAN$12.5 million ($9.73 million) to registered charities to aid the Rohingya people, bringing the total contributed by Canada to CAN$50 million ($38.9 million), the government announced Wednesday.

The funds are desperately needed as more than 646,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh since Aug. 25, according to the UN. The refugees have fled a military operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes, and torched Rohingya villages.

“Through the news, Canadians have seen what we see every day – the desperate need of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children and their families who have fled horrific violence in Myanmar and sought safety across the border in Bangladesh,” said David Morley, head of the Canadian arm of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.

"Today's announcement of Canadian support could not have come at a more critical time."

Canadian Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, who made the announcement on Wednesday, said the CAN$12.5 million was contributed to various charities between Aug. 25 and Nov. 28 and that the government would match it dollar for dollar, bringing the total to CAN$25 million.

The Canadian government had already donated CAN$25 million in 2017, bringing the sum for Rohingya humanitarian relief to CAN$50 million.

The government said Canada was now one of the top donors of aid to Rohingya.

"Canadians continue to show themselves to be generous and compassionate people," Bibeau said. "Their contributions will help our partners respond to the increasing humanitarian needs in Myanmar and Bangladesh, with a strong focus on meeting the particular needs of women and girls, who have faced the greatest impact of this crisis."

Turkey's state-run aid body, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has been distributing food among the refugees near Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh for three months in accordance with the instructions of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, one of the agency's purchasing officials told Anadolu Agency.

Speaking in September, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya had been killed in the crackdown.

Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings and disappearances committed by security personnel. In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.