May 31, 2018•Update: June 01, 2018
By Yusuf Hatip
BRUSSELS
The Rohingya crisis has reached “unprecedented proportions” in recent months with hundreds of thousands of people in need of humanitarian assistance, the EU commissioner for humanitarian aid said on Thursday.
In a statement released on Thursday, the European Commission said it released €40 million ($47 million) in humanitarian aid for Rohingya in Bangladesh and Myanmar.
“Our emergency aid will deliver essential supplies such as food, clean water healthcare as well as support for the monsoon season," said Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides.
The Rohingya refugee camps are extremely vulnerable to the flash flooding and mud landslides triggered by the ongoing monsoon season, which typically lasts until October and could put 200,000 lives at risk.
The statement said €29 million ($34 million) will be used to deliver food, nutritional support, clean water and sanitation facilities, access to health care services, as well as increased protection for the most vulnerable groups among refugees and host communities in the Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
“Another €7 million [$8 million] will be used to scale up preparedness measures for the rainy season, which could trigger floods and landslides in what is currently the most densely populated refugee camp in the world. €4 million will go for Rohingya and host communities in Myanmar's Rakhine State and provide protection, shelter, health, water, sanitation, food and psychosocial support,” it added.
Persecution of Rohingya
Since Aug. 25, 2017, more than 750,000 refugees, mostly children, and women have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community, according to Amnesty International.
At least 9,400 Rohingya were killed in Rakhine from Aug. 25 to Sept. 24 last year, according to Doctors Without Borders.
In a report published recently, the humanitarian group said the deaths of 71.7 percent or 6,700 Rohingya were caused by violence. They include 730 children below the age of 5.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by security personnel.
In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
