Rohingya Crisis: Australia Commits Further $15M In Humanitarian Aid
Published : 28 Apr 2018, 16:17
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The federal government will spend $15 million in the May budget on providing humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya crisis.
The commitment comes after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met with Austrian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney on Saturday to discuss a solution to a situation that has caused 900,000 Rohingya to flee into her country.
More than 680,000 mostly women and children have fled from Myanmar since August 2017 alone after a string of crackdowns on the Muslim religious minority by military in the Buddhist country.
The refugees now face a cyclone season in the notoriously flood-prone region of Cox's Bazar, where most are sleeping in slums and makeshift tents in one of Asia's poorest countries.
Refugee Laila Begum holds her son Mohammed Ifran’s hand as he receives treatment at the Red Cross Field Hospital in Kutupalong refugee camp, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in November.
Mr Turnbull told Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi in March that it was her responsibility to end the crisis, after years of criticism of the Nobel Peace Prize winner by human rights advocates.
He said the Australian government would provide $15 million in humanitarian assistance to Bangladesh to support the delivery of food, shelter and health services.
"This additional funding will provide food to more than 700,000 people in Cox’s Bazar, and high-nutrient porridge to more than 100,000 children under the age of five, and breastfeeding or pregnant women," he said.
"It will also support child protection services, and counselling and medical services for women and girls who have survived sexual and gender-based violence."
The federal government's humanitarian contribution to the Rohingya crisis has now reached $46.5 million since September 2017, but the government faces continued criticism over its dwindling contribution to foreign aid.
The budget was cut by $200 million in 2016 and frozen at $4 billion in 2017, leaving Australia 16th out of 28 donor countries in the OECD on the ratio of foreign aid to national income.
Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells told aid representatives at the Overseas Development Institute this month that the budget would not be increased until the "economy was back on a sustainable footing".
She cited polling that claimed there was a schism between voters and the aid sector on how much should be spent on helping people in other countries.
"In Australia we had some research done where it showed that about 80 per cent of Australians believe that we should not be spending more on foreign aid or that what we spend is about right," she said.
Source: The AGE of Australia