UK to give £3cr more aid for Rohingya

Senior Correspondent: Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya on Thursday said the United Kingdom (UK) will provide £3 crore more aid for Rohingyas who have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar.

"This aid would be in addition to the £59 lakh, which the UK earlier provided," Maya said after a view exchange meeting with a nine-member delegation of UK led by two state ministers at his ministry office in Bangladesh Secretariat.

The government would shift Rohingyas to Bhasan Island if their repatriation is delayed and Bangladesh Navy has been working to make the island livable, the minister said.

State Minister for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Mark Field, State Minister of Foreign Aid Alistair Burt, Chief of South Asia of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office John Virgoe, Acting British High Commissioner in Dhaka David Ashley and Chief of Political Department of the High Commission Paula Corrans along with team leader (Rohingya) of DFID and secretary of the ministry M Shah Kamal were present during the meeting.

They discussed the latest condition of Rohingya camps, including food, drinking water, registration process, housing and security.

The UK state minister and other delegation members appreciated Bangladesh for giving shelter to a huge number of Rohingya, fleeing persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine state since August 25.

risingbd/Dhaka/Sept 28, 2017/Noimuddin/Amirul