BBC UK
An extra £12m of UK aid will be sent to help Rohingya
Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar, International Development Secretary Penny
Mordaunt has said.
Violence in the Rakhine state of the country, formerly
known as Burma, has forced more than 620,000 Rohingya to flee to neighbouring
Bangladesh.
The money will be spent on drinking water, food,
latrines, shelters, soap, cooking utensils and water cans.
The extra cash brings the UK's support for the Rohingya
to £59m since August.
The Department of International Development has estimated
that international funding for the crisis will start to run out by February
next year, unless other countries pledge longer-term support.
Also Read:
Tales of horror from Myanmar http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41189748
Rohingya appeal launched by UK charities http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41487898
Who will help Myanmar's Rohingya? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38168917
UK suspends aid for Myanmar military http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41326179
On a visit to Bangladesh, Ms Mordaunt met refugees living
in camps in the fishing port of Cox's Bazar.
She said: "This looks like ethnic cleansing.
"The Burmese military must end this inhumane
violence and guarantee unrestricted humanitarian access so aid can reach those
in need in Burma.
"Any return of families to their homes must be safe,
voluntary and dignified."
How did the violence start?
https://youtu.be/1f91jmq20_8
Violence in the region began on 25 August when Rohingya
militants allegedly killed 12 people in attacks on police posts.
The attack was blamed on the Arakan Rohingya Salvation
Army (Arsa).
Since then hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims - a
stateless minority in the Buddhist-majority state of Rakhine - have fled
Myanmar for Bangladesh near the city of Cox's Bazar.
The Rohingya claim that they are being forced out of
their villages by the state's military, whereas the state says the refugees and
Muslim militants are burning their own homes.
Read more on what sparked the violence in Rakhine. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41082689
The money will also be used to provide sanitary products,
female-only bathing cubicles and counselling for 2,000 survivors of sexual
violence and 10,000 women suffering the trauma of war.
A separate £12m aid package, which will be spread across
multiple countries to help protect women from sexual and gender-based violence,
was also announced.
"The countless stories of sexual violence I have
heard from Rohingya women and girls are truly shocking and the high rates of
this crime across the world are a global scandal," Ms Mordaunt said.