An appeal to help Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is “well short of needs”, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday (Aug 23), as refugees called on donors not to forget the crisis ahead of the fifth anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar.
More than a million Rohingya are living in squalid camps in southern Bangladesh comprising the world’s largest refugee settlement, with little prospect of returning to Myanmar, where they are mostly denied citizenship and other rights.
“For the almost 1 million stateless Rohingya refugees, conditions in Bangladesh are extremely overcrowded, and they remain fully reliant on humanitarian assistance for their survival, UNHCR said.
“The most commonly unmet needs include proper nutrition, shelter materials, sanitation facilities and livelihood opportunities,” a UNHCR statement said.
It said its 2022 response plan sought over US$881 million for more than 1.4 million people, including Rohingya refugees and more than half a million most affected host communities. So far, it was funded at only 49 per cent, with US$426.2 million received.