UAE performing effective role in supporting Rohingya refugees.

The UAE is performing an influential and effective role in supporting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, as part of its efforts to promote international peace and security and improve the lives of people.

The UAE’s experience in helping the Rohingya refugees reflects the values of its community, such as tolerance, compassion and respect for all cultures, religions and races, according to a report.

The report further states that the value of Emirati aid provided to the Rohingyas between August 2017 and March 2018 reached around AED24.3 million (US$6.7 million), in the form of urgent relief aid and development projects to create decent living conditions in refugee camps.

The UAE is one of the first countries to provide political, diplomatic and humanitarian support for the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, as well as to demand an end to the brutal practices and ethnic cleansing they are facing.

The UAE also condemned the deteriorating humanitarian conditions of the Rohingya refugees and the use of force by the Myanmar authorities. In September 2017, during its speech at the 36th Session of the Human Rights Council, the UAE called on the international community to end the tragedy of the Rohingya Muslims.

Since the start of the crisis in Myanmar and the collective displacement of the Rohingyas to Bangladesh, the UAE has provided various forms of support for the refugees, the report added.

During its participation in the "Pledging Conference on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis" in Geneva on 23rd October, 2017, the UAE pledged to donate $7 million.

Under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE operated an air bridge to transport food and rescue aid to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Nine aircraft transported over 550 tonnes of supplies worth AED8.5 million ($2.31 million), in cooperation with the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

The report went on to say that the UAE is also managing health services for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, through the UAE-Bangladesh Volunteer Field Hospital in Cox’s Bazar, as the first Arab country to run a field hospital for the Rohingyas.

The hospital provides the best diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive services for children and elderly refugees, under the supervision of Emirati and Bangladeshi doctors, as part of a joint initiative by the Zayed Giving Initiative, Dar Al Ber Society, Sharjah Charity House and the Saudi-German Hospitals Group, under the supervision of the Emirates Community and Specialised Volunteering Programme and in cooperation with the Hope, Motherhood and Childhood Foundation of Bangladesh and other relevant authorities.

At the start of 2018, a Malaysian-Saudi-Emirati field hospital was also inaugurated in Cox’s Bazar, which operates 24 hours a day and is equipped with advanced equipment donated by the UAE, which has enabled it to provide quality medical services.

On 8th May, the UAE launched an initiative, in cooperation with the UNHCR, to organise a food programme to meet the needs of 132,700 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh while prioritising 78,000 refugee women and children. The UNHCR also launched food programmes in 10 other camps in Kautobalong, Vishwakkakul and Vinayabara.

The UAE stressed that it will increase its support for the UNHCR and all humanitarian organisations that are rescuing Rohingya refugees.

At the start of the current month, the UAE launched a project, which is supervised by the ERC and several Emirati donors, to dig 100 wells to provide clean water in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar.

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