Support for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh risks collapse, UN refugee agency says

Essential services for the Rohingya refugee population from Myanmar staying temporarily in Bangladesh are at risk of collapsing unless more funding is forthcoming, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday. It has made an appeal for $255 million USD to support Rohingya refugees with only 35 percent funded so far.

Nearly one million Rohingya live in refugee camps in Bangladesh’s southeastern Cox’s Bazar district and on Bhasan Char, an island off of the country’s coast. Over 700,000 Rohingya fled a brutal crackdown by Myanmar’s military in 2017, although some have been there for longer.

“There is a huge gap in terms of what we need and what resources are available. These funding gaps will affect the daily living of Rohingya refugees as they depend on humanitarian support on a daily basis for food, health and education,” Babar Baloch, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson, told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.