Rohingya Exodus Is a “Major Global Humanitarian Emergency”

IOM Director General William Lacy Swing (right) visits Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Photo courtesy of IOMBy Naimul HaqDHAKA, Bangladesh, Dec 5 2017 (IPS)In less than four months, over 600,000 Rohingya refugees have fled brutal persecution in Myanmar to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh. They are now crowded into camps across a stretch of 30 kms in Cox’s Bazar, a southeastern coastal region of the small South Asian nation.The UN migration agency, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has appealed to the international community for urgent funds. Over 344 million dollars was pledged recently at an international meeting to ramp up the delivery of critical humanitarian assistance. IOM stressed that the international community must work together to help to bring about a political resolution to the Rohingya crisis.We all need to work to create the conditions that will allow the refugees to eventually return voluntarily to Myanmar in safety and dignity. IOM, at the request of the government of Bangladesh, has been leading the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), which is coordinating the humanitarian response to the influx of Rohingya refugees.This appeal outlines IOM’s funding requirement from September 2017 to February 2018 as a part of the wider UN Humanitarian Response Plan.William Lacy Swing, IOM’s Director General, told IPS Correspondent Naimul Haq that any durable solution must be a political one agreed between Bangladesh and Myanmar a...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - December 5, 2017 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Naimul Haq Tags: Aid Asia-Pacific Development & Aid Featured Gender Violence Headlines Health Human Rights Humanitarian Emergencies IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Migration & Refugees Poverty & SDGs Projects Bangladesh humanitarian relief Inte Source Type: news