Around 50,000 Rohingya have taken shelter near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border as fighting intensifies between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army in Rakhine State. Officials fear that the displaced Rohingya may attempt to cross into Bangladesh at any time.

The issue was discussed on Sunday(August 17) at a meeting of the National Task Force on Rohingya, held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka and chaired by Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam.

According to reports from the border region, groups of Rohingya have already been trickling across into Bangladesh. The United Nations estimates that nearly 150,000 new Rohingya have entered the country over the past 18 months due to escalating violence in Myanmar.

Sunday’s meeting also reviewed the acute funding shortfall for humanitarian assistance. An official said that this year’s Rohingya Joint Response Plan sought $950 million, but just over half of that amount has so far been secured. An additional $170 million is urgently required.

To address the crisis, the United Nations is expected to organize a fundraising event in New York later this year. A similar initiative was discussed on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September last year.

Bangladesh already hosts more than one million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, and officials warn that fresh influxes could further strain resources and security along the border.

BOB Post