770 tonnes of food aid for Rohingya refugees

Local and international organisations have sent 270 tonnes of food to Bangladesh to distribute among Rohingya refugees, while the government has allocated another 500 tonnes.

More than 400,000 Rohingyas, have escaped from Myanmar to flee from a military offensive in response to insurgents’ attacks on dozens of police posts and an army base on Aug 25.

The disaster management ministry said on Thursday that as of Sept 20, around 424,000 Rohingyas have crossed the border into Bangladesh.

“They are sheltered in 14 camps and 5,575 of the new refugees have gone through biometric screenings,” Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury told the media in Dhaka.

He stated Bangladesh will help the Rohingyas until they return to Myanmar.

“The UNHCR has stated it wants to provide supports such as, food, shelter and healthcare. The WFP has pledged food aid for 400,000 people for four months.”

Currently, the public health engineering department is supplying 14 million litres of drinking water to the refugee camps every day, Chowdhury said, adding that 100 tube-wells and 500 toilets have been installed.

He also informed four mobile water-treatment plants have been also installed. They are capable of supplying 64,000 litres of safe water every 8 hours.

The government has moved to keep the over 400,000 newly-arrived refugees in one place so aid can be distributed properly, he added.

As much as 14 sheds are currently being constructed on a 2,000-acre plot of land in Cox’s Bazar’s Kutupalong to house the new refugees, said Chowdhury.

“The Rohingya issue is being considered on humanitarian ground. We are arranging new camps for them, even though it’s tough for Bangladesh. We are trying to ensure all kinds of support for the refugees.”

Source: The Daily Ittefaq