The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) pledged fresh humanitarian support for the Rohingya people (whom the government prefers to call “Bengalis”) living in Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh on Monday. The aid comes ahead of the looming cyclone and monsoon season, alongside help to vaccinate almost one million people against deadly cholera.
The UK has contributed £129 million (US$174 million) to the Rakhine crisis since August 25 last year. As part of this, £70 million (US$95 million) announced today is a new package of support, not previously allocated to this humanitarian programme. This contribution will see the UK providing 10.5 percent of the total budget set out in the humanitarian Joint Response Plan launched in March.
Conditions in the huge camps near the Myanmar border are set to become more life-threatening in the coming weeks as the rainy season begins, which could wash away the fragile and cramped makeshift shelters that are exposed to the elements and cause fatal diseases to spread more rapidly.
The announcement of an additional £70 million of humanitarian support will help ensure hundreds of thousands of persecuted refugees who have fled Myanmar will be better protected during this dangerous time, DFID explained.
UK aid is providing medication, sturdier shelters, food, clean water and support for women to give birth safely. It is also helping to support a large vaccination campaign against cholera in and around the Cox’s Bazaar camps that will benefit almost a million people – made up of both Rohingya families and Bangladeshis living near the camps – which is close in size to the population of Birmingham.
The $95 million aid is expected to provide up to 200,000 people with the necessary materials to strengthen their shelters; 300,000 people with food assistance and clean water; 30,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and 120,000 under-fives with emergency nutrition; 50,000 women – many of whom will give birth during the rainy season – to have access to midwifery care; 52,900 women and girls to have access to bathing cubicles; and 50,000 people to have access to healthcare services.
“The scale of this crisis is growing daily. With the devastating cyclone and monsoon season looming, even more lives could be lost, landslides could wipe out shelters and fatal diseases could spread,” Penny Mordaunt, DFID
“The UK is leading the way to help vaccinate people against a deadly cholera outbreak, strengthen shelters, and provide vital food and water to vulnerable northern Rakhine Muslim families who have already been forced to flee their homes because of brutal violence and persecution,” UK’s International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt commented.
“Across the globe, countries were quick to respond to the plight of the Rohingya people last year, but what is needed is a longer-term commitment to these vulnerable men, women and children who have suffered so much,” she went on. This package of aid builds on the work the UK is doing throughout Bangladesh to prepare for and respond to the incoming monsoon rains.
Aid-backed vaccines have been sourced from the international cholera vaccine stockpile, funded by Gavi. The Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) campaign, which the UK is the largest donor, started on May 6 and is being implemented by Dhaka and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Britain contributed £1.44 billion over the 2016 to 2020 period, which equates to approximately a quarter of the total spend globally. It will target approximately 1 million people including Muslims from northern Rakhine and those living in the host communities.
According to the WHO, cholera is an infectious disease which causes severe watery diarrhoea, and can lead to dehydration and kill within hours if left untreated. Victims with low immunity – such as malnourished children or people living with HIV – are at a greater risk of death when infected.
Oral Cholera Vaccine is recommended to be given in two doses. Children under five will receive two doses and adults will receive their second dose from the previous campaign conducted in November. Healthcare workers are also being trained to prevent, identify and treat major illnesses likely during the rainy season.
Meanwhile, measles and diphtheria vaccination campaigns have begun. These vaccinations will provide protection against some of the most common diseases in the camps, which can worsen during the rainy season.
DFID-supported work on preparing the Cox’s Bazaar camps for the monsoon season began in January. At the time, the UN estimated 102,000 northern Rakhine Muslim men, women and children were living in areas at risk of flooding and 12,000 people were at risk from landslides.
Work is also being done to reinforce pathways through the camps, which are necessary to deliver supplies and services. More than 158,000 people have received shelter and sandbags to protect them from winds and flood water.
Original source: MyanmarTimes
Published on 9 May 2018
