Emirates Red Crescent Authority (ERC) has collected more than US$ 18.0 million fund in a weeklong campaign in the United Arab Emirates to support livelihood of the Rohingya people sheltered in Bangladesh.
The nationwide campaign carried out in May amassed the fund from various platforms including social media and thousands of individuals and charities, report UNB and BSS.
The ERC launched the campaign under the directives of its President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The campaign was supported by all the UAE leaders.
Shaikh Tahnoun Bin Mohammad Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Ruler’s Representative in Al Ain Region, has donated US$ 1.36 million to the fund, and his wife Shaikha Shamsa Bint Zayed Al Nahyan donated more than half million US$ for the cause.
“So far, in Bangladesh, more than one million refugees have sheltered there. We need to benefit all of them especially the women and children, this time, our government decided to let the UAE people participate in helping Rohingya Muslim brothers and generate their donations’’ said Saed Mohammed ALMheiri, UAE Ambassador in Bangladesh.
“We built wells, provided them with clean water, medical assistance, plastic sheets, and constructed temporary houses and gave food. We also cooperated with Bangladesh Red Crescent,” he added.
“We feel proud that the UAE was the first country which started humanitarian efforts in Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees and carried out a number of projects for the benefits of children and women in collaboration with the UNHCR,” the UAE Ambassador said.
From the beginning of the Rohingya crisis, UAE has extended its supports to emergency relief for food, shelter, health to Rohingya women and children in Bangladesh. The UAE is also managing health services for the Rohingyas 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.
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.
The UAE also 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.
Moreover, UAE donated $2m to help address malnutrition among young refugees and their mothers.
Different UAE organizations including Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, Sharjah Charity, Fujairah Welfare Association, Al Maktoum Foundation, The Big Heart Foundation, Sharjah Media Corporation (SMC), Big Heart Foundation, Dubai Cares, Khalifa Foundation, Emirates Red Crescent Society are working in Rohingya camps in Bangladesh.
The embassy of UAE in Dhaka is also closely monitoring all relief activities from the very beginning of the Rohingya crisis.
