US provides $152m in aid for Rohingya, host communities

FE Team | Published: March 31, 2022 00:17:41

Following his first visit to Cox's Bazar, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas has announced that the United States is providing $152 million in new humanitarian assistance for nearly one million Rohingya refugees and Bangladesh host communities, reports UNB.
"This brings the total we've provided since August 2017 to $1.7 billion," he said.
The US envoy added: "Of this new funding, $125 million is for programs inside Bangladesh--for Rohingya refugees and affected Bangladeshi communities."
Mr Haas visited Cox's Bazar from March 27-29 to meet with local government officials and see how US programs continue to assist Rohingya refugees and host communities by providing healthcare, training to fight fires in the camps, protecting the environment, strengthening climate disaster resilience, and providing secure food distribution.
"I am heartened by the strong collaborative relationship with humanitarian agencies working in the camps and host communities in Cox's Bazar," he said.
The ambassador's trip was the first visit since US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on March 21 he had determined that members of the Myanmar military had committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingya. While in Cox's Bazar, Ambassador Haas visited Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC) Commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat and Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Md. Mamunur Rashid.
The envoy expressed appreciation for the resumption of regular activities in the camps, particularly that learning centers were open again, providing education and ensuring that Rohingya do not lose a generation to learning.
He also visited a UNHCR program that engages refugees and host communities to rehabilitate the environment, clean up and prevent pollution of waterways, increase resilience to climate change by reducing disaster risks from landslides, floods and fires.
The program emphasized nature-based solutions such as planting trees to stabilize hillsides, water quality management and establishing water reservoirs.
Haas saw volunteer firefighters using newly developed US Agency for International Development (USAID) mobile fire units equipped with backpacks with pumps and transport capacities during a fire-containment training demonstration.