United States Announces New Humanitarian Assistance for Displaced Rohingya and Members of Other Affected Communities in Bangladesh and Burma
PRESS STATEMENT
MORGAN ORTAGUS, DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON
MARCH 5, 2020
On March 3, the United States announced more than $59 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh and internally displaced Rohingya and members of other affected communities in Burma. This funding will help address the emergency needs of more than 900,000 refugees in Bangladesh, many of whom are Rohingya women and children from Rakhine State, Burma, as well as the needs of Bangladeshi host communities. This funding will also provide life-saving assistance to internally displaced persons, including Rohingya, and members of other affected communities in Burma, including those affected by the fighting between the Burmese military and the Arakan Army.
The United States remains the leading contributor to the humanitarian response to this crisis in Burma and Bangladesh. With this new funding, our total humanitarian assistance for this crisis is nearly $820 million since the outbreak of violence in August 2017. Of this funding, nearly $693 million is for programs inside Bangladesh. Given the tremendous funding needs for this crisis, we welcome the contributions that some Member States have made to this humanitarian response in recent months, and we urge them to do more and call on other countries and stakeholders to contribute.
We continue to call on Burma to create the conditions that would allow for voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable returns, based on the informed consent of those who have been forcibly displaced. We also call on the Government of Burma to ensure unhindered and sustained humanitarian access to all people requiring assistance.