Washington : Saudi King Salman has allocated $15 million (Dh 55 million) aid for Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar and taking refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh.
“A specialised team from the centre will be heading to Bangladesh to assess the condition of Rohingya refugees there and find out their urgent needs and provide them with relief assistance, humanitarian help and shelter,” said Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Rabiah, General Supervisor of Riyadh-based King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Aid on Tuesday.
“As per the directive of the King, the centre has carried out a number of projects, while some others are in various phases of implementation,” he was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.
Al Rabiah made the statement following a meeting with members of the National Council on US-Arab Relations and the Committee on cooperation between US Partnerships and GCC Countries at the US House of Representatives in Washington.
The Saudi Cabinet renewed the Kingdom’s calls on the international community to take urgent action to stop the attacks and to allow the Myanmar Muslim minority their basic human rights.
The Rohingya refugees began fleeing Myanmar from August 25 when Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) rebels attacked police checkposts and killed 12 security personnel, triggering a military crackdown.
At least 420,000 Rohingya have since fled to Bangladesh to escape what a senior UN official called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”.
Myanmar has said its military operations in Rakhine were in response to the August attack and that the military was battling terrorists.
If the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state persists, UN agencies estimate the total number of refugees entering Bangladesh may hit one million.
—IANS