US to provide $47m more aid for Rohingyas

Staff Correspondent: The United States (US) will provide an additional $47 million in humanitarian assistance for Rohingyas who have taken shelter in Bangladesh.

A press release issued from US embassy in Dhaka has confirmed the matter on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson came up with the announcement in Nay Pyi Taw, Burma on Wednesday.

This brings the total United States' assistance in Bangladesh for the Rohingya crisis to $83 million since August 2017, the press release said.

In the press release, Secretary Tillerson said that the humanitarian scale of this crisis is staggering as over 600,000 Rohingya, mostly women and children have fled to Bangladesh, and an unknown number remain internally displaced with limited access to food, water, and shelter.

"The United States remains dedicated to humanitarian initiatives all over the world and is proud to distribute these funds as part of our ongoing efforts to help those who are suffering," he added.

U.S. assistance goes to its international organization partners on the ground, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Program (WFP).

The assistance would help provide protection, emergency shelter, food and nutritional assistance, as well as health care and psychosocial support for the more than 600,000 displaced Rohingya from the Rakhine State.

risingbd/Dhaka/Nov 16, 2017/Hasan/AI