Bangladesh, UN to launch joint response plan this week to
seek humanitarian assistance
Porimol Palma and Rejaul Karim Byron
The United Nations and the Bangladesh government have
prepared a plan to provide an assistance of $950 million to the Rohingya
refugees and the vulnerable locals in Cox's Bazar for 10 months until December.
The amount is more than double the money ($434 million)
initially planned for the Rohingyas as emergency humanitarian aid for six
months till February. The donor countries, however, contributed around $400
million.
The joint response plan (March-December 2018) would be
launched in Geneva this week, UN Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo told The Daily
Star at her office in the capital on March 1
It is going to be more challenging to fund this time, she
said.
“The joint response plan is looking at the remaining
humanitarian need of the Rohingyas and also of the host community. It's really
important because as the first responders, the host community should not fall
into deeper poverty than they were in,” she said.
According to a humanitarian situation report of the
Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) in Cox's Bazar, at least 25
percent of the fund has to be spent for the host communities in Cox's Bazar as
they are suffering from rising prices of food, low wages of labour and loss of
natural resources, due to the Rohingya influx.
“More than 500 acres of forest land has been cleared in
and around the refugee camps as they [Rohingyas] used the trees as firewood,”
said RRRC Mohammad Abul Kalam.
A total of 691,320 Rohingyas fled Myanmar until February
25 after its security forces had begun a crackdown in Rakhine on August 25 last
year.
Including the previous arrivals, the total number of the
Rohingyas registered in Cox's Bazar stands at 10,76,640, the RRRC report says.
In the initial weeks of the influx, the local communities
and many individuals rushed to provide humanitarian assistance to the refugees.
The Bangladesh government also allocated fund for them. Eventually, the UN and
the other aid agencies came forward with emergency aid.
With the funding from the international community,
Bangladesh government, the UN and some international NGOs have initially been
able to stabilise the huge humanitarian needs, including food, shelter,
clothes, healthcare, water and sanitation, education, and protection.
Heavy risks of outbreaks of diseases, including cholera,
diphtheria and measles, were contained by prompt vaccination programmes.
However, many of the needs in the heavily congested refugee camps in Ukhia
remain unmet, according to the RRRC.
The Rohingyas are still fleeing from Rakhine despite a
repatriation deal between Myanmar and Bangladesh. The repatriation has not
begun yet.
The RRRC said the authorities had already identified some
100,000 Rohingyas living in areas vulnerable to flooding and landslides, and
were preparing to relocate them to a new site along the Kutupalong-Balukhali
camps. For that, the Bangladesh government has allocated additional 1,500 acres
of land, in addition to the initial 2,000 acres, for the Rohingyas.
“There is no alternative to continuing the humanitarian
assistance until the repatriation is complete,” Abul Kalam said.
Mia Seppo, also the resident representative of UNDP
Bangladesh, said it was critical that the refugees stay in low-lying and steep
slopes having risks of flooding and mudslides during rainy season were
relocated. Besides, strengthening of shelters, construction and repair of roads
within the camps were important given the worries of monsoon.
She said apart from food, shelter, health, water,
sanitation, education and protection needs, many of the Rohingya women and
children have psychological and health needs as they have been traumatised
following the violence in Rakhine.
Mia Seppo said they wanted to make sure that the impact
of the massive refugee influx was not too negative on Cox's Bazar, especially
on the forest, water, land and various services for the locals.
It was important to arrange alternative energy for the
refugees to cook food as well as to ensure forestation in the area that was
cleared of forest, she said, adding they also wanted to make sure that there
was no tension between the locals and the refugees.
“Global principles about refugees is
burden-sharing…Bangladesh did the right thing by keeping its border open and
providing asylum [to the Rohingyas], and the international community needs to
do the right thing in terms of sharing the burden,” Mia Seppo said.
Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, executive director of COAST
Trust, an NGO operating in Cox's Bazar, said further funding for the refugees
was important, but at the same time efficient use of the fund was a need of the
day.
“Apart from the UN and international aid agencies, local
NGOs and the local government also need to be involved in the humanitarian
operations to improve efficiency and lower management cost,” he told The Daily
Star on March 2.
“Local people are facing economic and environmental
pressures due to the Rohingya crisis. There is also tension among the locals.
These aspects need to be mitigated urgently,” he added.