Funds for Rohingya crisis needed to sustain robust response efforts ahead of the monsoon season

The Government and people of Bangladesh have displayed extraordinary generosity towards Rohingya refugees. They have opened their homes to tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees over the past decades. Most recently, they have welcomed over 671,000 Rohingya refugees, who have fled violence in Myanmar since 25 August 2017 to seek safety in Cox’s Bazar. Their robust response – with the support of the international community – has saved countless lives. The Government and the people of Bangladesh are the biggest donors to this crisis. The overall population of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is currently estimated to be over 1 million. New refugees are still arriving with some 8,000 new arrivals since January 2018.

However, the Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis (JRP), which requests US$951 million to respond to the needs of some 1.3 million people, both Rohingya refugees and vulnerable members of the host community until December 2018, remains underfunded. This Robust funding for humanitarian response needed ahead of the monsoon season. To date the JRP, launched in mid-March, is only 9 per cent funded. The JRP focuses on the essentials, including adequate shelter, water, food, medical care, sanitation, and access to education.