The United States has committed to providing an additional US$116 million in aid to people impacted by humanitarian crises in Myanmar, Bangladesh and the surrounding region, including more than US$74 million to support Rohingya refugees and their host communities. The pledge comes at a time when a steep decline in funds has forced humanitarian agencies to focus on the most critical and life-saving needs. This funding crush has led to worsening humanitarian conditions in the world’s largest refugee settlement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Thursday that the package aims to provide critical resources to nearly one million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, many of whom fled genocide in Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma, and to more than a million of their Bangladeshi hosts.
According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), Myanmar in 2022 was by far the worst country in terms of state-sponsored political violence against civilians, with 1,639 reported instances. The aid will help those displaced and endangered by Myanmar's junta, which seized power in 2021. Over the past two years, Myanmar's regime has been cracking down on dissidents and ousting democratic politicians.
Accounting for the latest funding, the US has provided US$2.2 billion in humanitarian support to Myanmar, Bangladesh and other nations in the region since 2017, according to its own figures.
August 25, 2023, marked the sixth anniversary since over 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, following coordinated attacks by the Myanmar military. They joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who had previously sought refuge in the country.
Nearly one million Rohingya refugees are currently living at the Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region. For decades, the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority, have faced institutionalized discrimination in Myanmar, such as exclusion from citizenship.
In August 2017, the Myanmar government launched a military campaign that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh. The United Nations called the campaign ethnic cleansing; the United States declared the Myanmar government committed genocide against the Rohingya. The campaign of mass atrocities in Rakhine State began on August 25, 2017.
At least 740,000 Rohingya Muslims arrived in the already overcrowded Bangladeshi refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district in 2017. The refugees are now living in the squalid spread of a 28-square-kilometer camp that was once a sanctuary for rare Asian wild elephants. Rohingya refugees rely almost entirely on humanitarian aid, as they cannot leave the camps and legally work to sustain their families.
Rohingya people have endured unspeakable hardship for years. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya people, living in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, are unable to move freely and are subject to government persecution and violence.
In Bangladesh, nearly one million Rohingya refugees remain in refugee camps located in an area off the coast of the Bay of Bengal, which is extremely vulnerable to cyclones, flooding, landslides, fire outbreaks and the impacts of climate change.
Recurring natural disasters have a devastating impact on the congested camps, and their frequency barely leaves time to rebuild shelters made of bamboo and tarpaulin before the next fateful blow strikes. While Cox’s Bazar was spared a direct hit when Cyclone Mocha made landfall in May this year, considerable destruction to shelters and infrastructure occurred in the camps.
As the humanitarian conditions in the world’s largest refugee settlement deteriorate, the challenges surrounding this protracted crisis continue to increase. The funding crush in 2023 has for the first time led to the reduction of refugees’ food assistance, raising concerns about dramatic consequences: rising malnutrition, school dropout, child marriage, child labor and gender-based violence.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) was forced to cut food assistance to Rohingya refugees twice this year due to funding shortages. In May, WFP slashed food vouchers in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to just US$8, or less than 9 cents per meal. In March, WFP had to reduce its life-saving food vouchers from US$12 to US$10 per person per month.
Humanitarian agencies have appealed for US$876 million in 2023 to assist some 1.47 million people, including Rohingya refugees and their host communities. However, as of September 23, the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis Joint Response Plan 2023 was only 40 percent funded.
On Thursday, the United States urged other donors to contribute to the humanitarian response in Bangladesh, increase support to those driven from and affected by violence in Myanmar, and work towards lasting solutions to the refugee crisis.
While a dignified and sustainable return to Myanmar seems the primary long-term solution to the refugee crisis, the security and political conditions in Myanmar prevent such a solution. Rohingya refugees say they want to return to Myanmar when it is safe for them to do so voluntarily.
Myanmar’s human rights and humanitarian crisis is massive. The country faces multiple overlapping humanitarian needs caused by genocide, persecution, protracted armed conflicts, intercommunal violence and natural disasters. Humanitarian needs in Myanmar have continued to grow due to ongoing armed violence and political unrest since the military coup in February 2021.
Fighting across Myanmar continues to endanger the lives, safety, and health of civilians. Heavy armed clashes, including airstrikes, artillery fire and ambushes are reported predominantly in the northwest and southeast of the country, as well as in Rakhine and southern Chin state.
Between February 2021 and August 2023, credible sources verified that at least 4,054 people have died at the hands of the military and its affiliates, and 24,730 individuals have been arrested. Some 75,000 civilian structures, including homes, clinics, schools and places of worship, have been reportedly burned or destroyed since the military takeover.
Myanmar is also one of the most vulnerable countries in South East Asia to natural disasters, facing numerous hazards such as floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. On May 14, 2023, Tropical Cyclone Mocha - one of the most powerful storms in decades - hit western and northern Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. The cyclone has caused widespread damage, affecting over 2.4 million people in both countries.
As of September 2023, there were an estimated 1.9 million internally displaced people (IDP) across Myanmar, including more than 1.6 million people who have been displaced within the country since the military takeover on February 1, 2021. Some 300,000 people remain internally displaced due to conflict prior to February 2021, mainly in Rakhine, Kachin, Chin, and Shan state.
The United Nations estimated that before Tropical Cyclone Mocha hit 17.6 million people, or one-third of the overall population, in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance. This includes 5.8 million children. According to the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 15.2 million people in the country were food insecure.
The 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Myanmar calls for US$887 million to provide life-saving assistance to millions of people. As of September 23, the HRP is only 27 percent funded.
Further information
Full text: United States Announces $116 Million in Humanitarian Assistance to People in Burma, Bangladesh, and the Region, Press Statement, Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State, released September 21, 2023
https://www.state.gov/united-states-announces-116-million-in-humanitarian-assistance-to-people-in-burma-bangladesh-and-the-region/