The European Commission is pledging an additional €30 million ($35 million) in aid to help Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar, Christos Stylianides, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, said on Monday.
The commission said €5 million will be allocated for emergency humanitarian aid, an additional €5 million will support registration of Rohingya refugees, and €20 million will be earmarked for development and “early recovery” efforts in the country.
The announcement was made at a pledging conference in Geneva. The European Union has already pledged over €21 million in financial aid for communities in Bangladesh and Myanmar who are hosting Rohingya refugees.
Mr. Stylianides will travel to the country next week to meet Rohingya refugees and visit E.U. projects, the commission said.
Some 600,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar for Bangladesh and India after a weeks-long military campaign that began in late August. Rights groups estimate that more than 5,000 people might have been killed, most of whom are civilians, but Myanmar has not allowed international observers in to the most affected areas to asses the death toll.
© UNHCR/Roger Arnold
The government of Myanmar and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi have been criticized over the campaign against the mostly-Muslim Rohingya. Rights groups have charged that the government’s actions amount to ethnic cleansing.
On Sunday, the U.S. Department of State called again for an “immediate end of the violence” in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state, and noted that the U.S. government has pledged nearly $40 million in emergency assistance since August 25.
One advocacy group said earlier this month that fewer than 20 percent of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh have received food aid due in part to the overwhelming numbers of people fleeing Myanmar.