EU announces humanitarian package for Myanmar minorities

The European Union (EU) on Friday announced a $5.82 million humanitarian aid package for the Rohingya and other ethnic minority communities in Myanmar.

"The EU is committed to helping vulnerable communities living across Myanmar, who have suffered due to the long-running conflicts in the country," Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said.

"Our new assistance will reach the most vulnerable, who have been displaced by violence and those who cannot return to their homes and grant unrestricted humanitarian access to all parts of the country," he added.

In May, the EU announced $46.5 million in humanitarian aid to provide relief in Myanmar and neighbouring Bangladesh after the Rohingya crisis, reports Efe news.

The fresh aid is aimed at providing emergency shelter along with food, water and sanitation facilities to Rohingyas in Rakhine state and other minorities in Kachin and Shan as they could be affected by the torrential rain during the monsoon season.

More than 100,000 people in Kachin and Shan states have been forcibly displaced since the 2011 conflict between the government and armed rebels.

A group of UN experts in a report said that there is evidence of intentional genocide against the Rohingya by the Myanmar military.

At least 10,000 people were killed and around 725,000 sought refuge in Bangladesh due to military operations in Rakhine, which began on August 25, 2017 in response to insurgent attacks on government security posts, according to a UN report.

According to the EU, around 600,000 Rohingya live in Rakhine and are "confined in their villages, or internally displaced in camps", with limited access to food, sanitation, education and other services.

Myanmar authorities do not recognize the Rohingya as citizens and consider them to be Bangladeshi immigrants, denying them basic rights.

--IANS

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