Nine Lakh Rohingya Muslim Refugees In Bangladesh Face An Uncertain Future As Hunger & Diseases May Strike Soon
Three quarters of the year has already elapsed with only 35 per cent of the required $920 million having been made available, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
There are over nine lakh Rohingya Muslim refugees living in the camps in Bangladesh but despite the global attention their suffering is attracting, they are facing yet another year of uncertainty as funding continues to be a major challenge for the authorities.
Three quarters of the year has already elapsed with only 35 per cent of the required $920 million having been made available, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
Reuters
How serious is the funding challenge?
Like every country has a budget to look after its major policies and population, the Rohingya migrants in Bangladesh are supported by this fund. These help sustain all aspects of their lives from food to shelter and healthcare facilities, among others.
Against this backdrop, in February this year, a Joint Response Plan (JPR) for 2019 was launched in Geneva, seeking $920.5 million to cover expenses for the period between January and December 2019.
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About 69 per cent of the $950 million sought in JRP 2018 was met, while around 64 per cent of the $434 million sought under JRP 2017 was provided.
According to the financial tracking system of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), only $330 million of the appeal for $920.5 million, which is less than 36 per cent, has so far been met.
So what are its implications?
Let us understand it this way: What will happen if your government runs short of funds for its major schemes? The shortage of funding has reportedly caused some of the key sectors like health, protection, nutrition, and site management, remain severely underfunded, putting the lives of the Rohingyas in danger.
For food security, only USD 86.9 million (34.2 per cent) of the USD 254.1 million sought, was funded.
Of USD 128.8 mn for shelter, only USD 15.6 mn (12.1 per cent) has so far been collected. For health, USD 13.1mn (14.7.8 per cent) of USD 88.7 mn has been provided.
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For nutrition, out of USD 48.1 mn, only USD 13.8 mn, which is 14.8 per cent, has been made available, while for protection, USD 9.7 mn out of USD 38.9 mn has been collected.
For shelter, USD 128 mn was asked, of which 12.1 per cent (USD 15.6 mn) was met, and for site management, USD 24.4 mn (24.7 per cent) of USD 98.7 mn has so far been made available.
The funding scenario with regard to other sectors like child protection, communication with communities, coordination, education, emergency telecommunication, gender-based violence, and logistics, is more or less the same. Not a single sector has been able to get more than 36.4 per cent funding, roughly a third of the funding promised. One sector, emergency telecom, has not yet received a single cent this year.
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Over 9,00,000 Rohingya fled a crackdown by Myanmar's military in 2017 in Rakhine state and are living in camps in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.
Myanmar has faced international pressure to allow the Rohingya to return to Rakhine and grant them citizenship rights.
With inputs from agencies
