The UK has called on the international community to increase long-term support for the Rohingya people, a year after some 700,000 people fled Myanmar.
The persecution of the Rohingya people in Myanmar has been widely condemned around the world, but now the UK has called on its global partners to provide long-term support for the Rohingya people to reinforce the safety of those still in Myanmar, as well as the 700,000 who fled to Bangladesh during the crisis last year.
Following the mass exodus of Rohingya people from Myanmar, countries around the world responded with emergency aid funding, including £129m from the UK itself, but long-term support for the Rohingya people still living in refugee camps in Bangladesh is now needed.
What kind of aid funding do the Rohingya refugees need?
The UK seeks to ensure that the Rohingya people now living in refugee camps have access to education, for both Rohingya children and those living in communities near the refugee camps, as part of an effort to improve integration with local populations. This would also include opportunities for adults to learn new skills, to equip them for new jobs.
The support the UK is currently providing includes efforts to help reunite children with their parents, as well as introducing protections for the most vulnerable people in the camp, and helping to build sturdy, protected shelters for use during the monsoon season.
International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt emphasised that the international community should fulfil its responsibility to help the Rohingya people, saying: “The roots of this crisis go back decades, but 12 months ago we saw an unprecedented campaign of terror by the Burmese military, resulting in 700,000 people fleeing across the border into Bangladesh… It is clear what the international community must now do… These people need their lives back and their rights guaranteed.”
