United States Announces More Than $170 Million in Humanitarian Assistance for the Rakhine State/Rohingya Refugee Crisis

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

The United States today announced more than $170 million in additional humanitarian assistance for Rohingya inside and outside Burma, as well as for host communities in Bangladesh. With this new funding, our total assistance in response to the Rohingya Refugee Crisis has reached nearly $1.9 billion since August 2017, when over 740,000 Rohingya were forced to flee to safety in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

This additional humanitarian assistance includes more than $93 million through the State Department and more than $77 million through USAID.  With nearly $138 million for programs specifically in Bangladesh, it provides life-sustaining support to the over 940,000 Rohingya refugees, many of whom are survivors of a campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and 540,000 generous host community members in Bangladesh. It will enable the provision of food, safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter, and psychosocial support.  We urge other donors to contribute robustly to the humanitarian response and increase support to those driven from and affected by violence in Burma.

The United States applauds the generosity of the government and people of Bangladesh and other Rohingya-hosting countries in the region.  Recognizing that conditions in Burma do not currently allow for the safe, voluntary, dignified, and sustainable return and reintegration of displaced Rohingya, we are working with the Government of Bangladesh, Rohingya, and people within Burma toward finding solutions to the crisis.  We also commend our humanitarian partners for the lifesaving work they continue to do every day.