By SM Najmus Sakib
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Japan will provide $3.5 million to support Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and on Wednesday it inked a partnership agreement with the UNHCR to help the persecuted people living in two camps with essential services.
Bangladesh currently hosts over 1.2 million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar's Rakhine State following a brutal military crackdown in August 2017.
Since the beginning of the emergency in 2017, Japan has been a steadfast supporter of the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh, contributing over $170 million to UNHCR and other UN agencies and NGOs in Bangladesh, including through this new funding.
The contribution will be used to keep Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar and the remote island of Bhasan Char safe and provide humanitarian assistance.
“Japan was the first to support the humanitarian response on Bhasan Char. Its contribution has allowed UNHCR to strengthen local NGO work on the island, including providing protection and access to essential services,” said Johannes Van Der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, in a statement issued from Dhaka.
According to the agreement, UNHCR will continue its humanitarian response in the camps in Cox's Bazar and on Bhasan Char, focusing on providing key services such as legal and community-based protection, access to health, hygiene, and sanitation, nutrition support, and core relief items.
The agreement will help strengthen skills development and livelihood activities, as well as prepare for a safe and sustainable return to Myanmar once conditions are conducive.
The crisis is ongoing, and the lives of Rohingya refugees remain dependent on humanitarian assistance, the statement said, adding that Japan's assistance comes at a critical time, as the Rohingya response is one of the world's underfunded refugee situations.