Turkish NGO delivers aid to 3,125 Rohingya in Myanmar

By Izzet Taskiran

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said Tuesday that it delivered emergency food aid to 3,125 Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State of western Myanmar.

The aid was distributed on Monday and Tuesday, a press release said, adding this was the first food aid received by the ethnic group since the latest violence erupted on Aug. 25 and aid workers' access was strictly restricted by Myanmar authorities.

The aid delivered to the Rohingya families living in Dapaing Thingying Bali village and Dapaing South Bali IDP (Internally Displaced People) Camps near Sittwe township of southern Rakhine State consists of rice, oil, chickpeas, salt and pepper, and should be enough for one month, according to the statement.

IHH also plans to deliver basic life supplies to 12,500 Rohingya within the following days.

The Istanbul-based aid agency said it also continued its relief works in Bangladesh where around 800,000 Rohingya have taken refuge, adding they had so far provided humanitarian aid to around 165,000 people both in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Since Aug. 25, more than 429,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN's migration agency.

In total, more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees are now believed to be in Bangladesh, including the arrivals since Aug. 25.

The refugees are fleeing a fresh security operation in which security forces and Buddhist mobs have killed men, women and children, looted homes and torched Rohingya villages. According to Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali, around 3,000 Rohingya have been killed in the crackdown.

Turkey has been at the forefront of providing aid to Rohingya refugees and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted the issue at this year's UN General Assembly.

The 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.