World Bank may provide $400m for Rohingyas
The World Bank (WB) will provide around $50 million grant in the first phase to improve the health of Rohingyas who fled Myanmar persecution and took shelter in Bangladesh.
WB will officially announce the grant on June 30 when its President Jim Yong Kim along with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will arrive in Dhaka, a finance ministry official said.
The official said under a full package, WB may provide $400 million by the next six months. Of the amount, $50 million of the first phase may be placed in the WB Board by today or tomorrow.
The WB presently has an existing health project in Cox's Bazar, and the $50 million will be provided as additional fund exclusively for the Rohingya.
The finance ministry official said the grant would be provided for various components like health, education, sanitation, shelter. A WB team has already visited Bangladesh and identified the areas for possible assistance.
The WB president will meet with the finance minister at the secretariat office on July 1 morning.
The WB president and the UN chief will visit Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. During the two-day visit, they will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. On July 2, they would speak at a press conference in Dhaka.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) may also provide around $200 million for the Rohingya refugees. An official of the Economic Relations Division said the full amount may be a grant.
A team of ADB has already visited Bangladesh and is now identifying the areas for assistance.
Up until February, Bangladesh received $400 million in grant from several international bodies and countries.
The UN demanded $950 million for Rohingyas in March. The UN has so far received 20 percent of the amount.
Since August last year, about 700,000 Rohingyas have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar and started living in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, putting additional pressure on the land-scarce populous country of 165 million people.
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