The European Commission (EU) announces additional humanitarian aid of 3 million euro to address the most pressing needs of Rohingya civilians, EU said in a statement issued in Brussels on Tuesday. The funding comes on top of the 12 million euro announced in May when Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides visited Rakhine State in Myanmar.
"The European Union is providing further emergency humanitarian aid as the situation continues to be critical," the EU said. This additional funding will help provide emergency shelter, water, food and health assistance for newly arrived refugees in Bangladesh and people in need in Myanmar, as soon as humanitarian access to the latter is restored.
The EU in the statement also renews the call for full humanitarian access and the respect for international human rights law in Myanmar.
"The immediate restoration of humanitarian assistance in northern Rakhine State is needed in order to address what is already a precarious humanitarian situation, and to avoid an escalation of the crisis," EU commissioner Stylianides said.
Lauding the government and people of Bangladesh for their hospitality in sheltering many refugees, he said the EU remains committed to support those who are forced to flee their homes during these difficult times.
Meanwhile, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini in a statement said that the priority is now to obtain immediate humanitarian access again, and to address in parallel the root causes of the conflict by implementing the Annan Advisory Commission recommendations to this end.
-BSS
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