UPDATE - World Bank to fund Bangladesh's $723M package for Rohingya, host communities

UPDATES WITH COMMENT FROM WORLD BANK OFFICIAL, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, INTRO

By SM Najmus Sakib and Faisal Mahmud

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - The World Bank will fund the Bangladeshi government's two separate projects of Taka 84.82 billion ($723 million) for the persecuted Rohingya refugees and host communities in southeastern Cox’s Bazar, an official said Wednesday.

Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the package on Tuesday.

A total of 13 government agencies will implement the two projects.

Out of $723 million, the World Bank will provide $700 million in funding for two projects aimed at improving basic services and strengthening disaster preparedness for both Rohingya refugees and the communities hosting them in Bangladesh, a World Bank official told Anadolu.

Two equally funded projects, the Inclusive Services and Opportunities for Host Community and Displaced Rohingya Population Project and the Host and Rohingya Enhancement of Lives Project, will each receive $350 million, the official added.

The Bangladeshi prime minister had earlier called for finding new sources of funding for Rohingya as the funds for the displaced Myanmar nationals have decreased.

About 1.2 million Rohingya are living in the South Asian country. The majority of Rohingya fled a brutal military crackdown in Rakhine, Myanmar in 2017. Most of them are housed in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar, but since late 2020 about 35,000 have been relocated to the island of Bhasan Char.