The UN officials, a statement said, praised Bangladesh and its people for helping the helpless Rohingyas and conveyed Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali about UN initiatives to raise funds to cover the increasing humanitarian needs.

Bangladesh government solicited United Nations’ full support for repatriation of Rohingya refugees as the UN agencies extended their humanitarian assistance for those who have fled after the latest spell of violence to erupt in Myanmar’s insurgency-affected Rakhine state.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali raised the issue when Under Secretary General of the UN Office for the Coordination of the Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) Mark Lowcock and Executive Director of UNICEF Anthony Lake jointly met him at his office on Wednesday.

Mark Lowcock and Anthony Lake, have just returned from Cox’s Bazar after visiting the camps where the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals have taken shelter.

A statement of Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said Mahmood Ali told them that Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s recently sent as her representative union minister U Kyaw Tint Swe, who conveyed their willingness to take back their nationals who took refuge in Bangladesh.

The UN officials, the statement said, praised Bangladesh and its people for helping the helpless Rohingyas and conveyed Ali about UN initiatives to raise funds to cover the increasing humanitarian needs.

The foreign minister said the number of forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals exceeded 9,00,000 as over 5,00,000 Rohingyas crossed into Bangladesh in just one month.

‘Their presence is creating serious humanitarian challenge for Bangladesh,’ the statement quoted him as saying.

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs- UNOCHA yesterday released an additional US$12 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to urgently help the most vulnerable people fleeing violence in Myanmar and their host communities in Bangladesh.

“The people of Bangladesh have offered a generous welcome, but the current conditions in the camps are terrible. Without much more international assistance, the refugees, who have suffered greatly, could face a health catastrophe on top of the existing tragedy,” Lowcock said during his visit to one of the refugee sites in Cox’s Bazar.

UNICEF earlier appeals for US$76.1 million to assist children in Bangladesh affected by the Rohingya crisis to cover the immediate needs of newly-arrived Rohingya children, as well as those who arrived before the recent influx, and children from vulnerable host communities — 720,000 children in all.

Up to 60 per cent of the 5,00,000-plus Rohingya who have fled Myanmar since August 25 are estimated to be children.

IOM APPEALS $ 119.77 MILLION AID

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has appealed to the international community for 119.77 million US dollars to provide desperately needed aid as over 5,00,000 newly arrived Rohingya are now living in dire state in different makeshift camps at Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh

The state-own news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha-BSS, reported that, the speed and the magnitude of the influx since 25 August, when tens of thousands of Rohingya began fleeing violence in Northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, has resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency.

The majority arrived with little or nothing, joining an estimated 300,000 that had fled in earlier waves of displacement, said an IOM press release on Wednesday.

The UN Migration Agency at the request of the government of Bangladesh has been leading the Inter Sector Coordination Group, which is coordinating the humanitarian response to the influx of Rohingyas.

This appeal outlines IOM’s funding requirement from September 2017 to February 2018 as a part of the wider UN Humanitarian Response Plan, said the release.

Prior to the latest influx, IOM was coordinating humanitarian assistance to some 200,000 Rohingyas living in makeshift settlements in Cox’s Bazar and continues to support this population, as well as newer arrivals.

With existing settlements in Cox’s Bazar becoming dangerously congested and the small village’s population tripling in a matter of weeks, IOM’s response plan, targets an estimated 450,000 individuals (90,000 households) in two phases to ensure adequate protection before the next rainy season begins in March/April 2018.

IOM is leading the site management sector in Cox’s Bazar and its site developments aim to help 350,000 individuals.

The UNHCR and international aid agency says, around 5,20,00 Rohingyas have entered Bangladesh after the latest spell of violence. The influx began on August 25 when Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown in the northern Rakhine State over alleged terrorist attacks on its police outposts.