The UK has urged more countries to raise money and address the wide funding gap for Rohingya refugees at a virtual donor conference.
The UN is appealing for more than $1 billion this year to meet the humanitarian needs of Rohingya refugees in camps in Bangladesh after they fled ethnic violence in neighbouring Myanmar, but so far less than half has been accumulated. This leaves a significant funding gap, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cox’s Bazar in south-eastern Bangladesh is the world’s largest refugee camp, housing 860,000 Rohingya Muslims, and is the focus of the virtual event, co-hosted by Britain, the US, the European Union and the UN’s refugee body.
Ahead of the event, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab pledged a further £47.5 million ($63m) in aid, both for the Rohingya and to help Bangladesh deal with the coronavirus pandemic and its frequent natural disasters.
"Today I urge the world not to turn away from the Rohingya's suffering and to take the action necessary to allow them to safely return to the homes they fled in terror," Mr Raab said.
"The people living in Cox's Bazar face unimaginable hardship and many have been victims of violence," Mr Raab said.
The conference co-hosts also invited other countries to contribute to Bangladeshi host communities, and internally displaced people in Myanmar, more than three years since the latest phase of the crisis began in August 2017.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said at the event that funding in 2020 was down on the previous year and he urged countries to focus on “the future and the dignity” of the Rohingya.
He appealed that the international community did not “lose ground on the gains we have achieved” in addressing the plight of the Rohingya.
Britain has imposed sanctions on two Myanmar military generals after a UN investigation found them responsible "for atrocities which amount to ethnic cleansing", the UK Foreign Ministry said.
Many in Myanmar see Rohingya people as illegal immigrants, and they are denied citizenship and stripped of rights. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border during a 2017 military offensive in Myanmar, for which its government faces genocide charges at the UN's top court.
The funds raised at the conference will go to international organisations and non-governmental organisations working to alleviate the crisis in Myanmar, throughout south Asia, and as specified by the UN-led Joint Response Plan in Bangladesh.
Nearly one million Rohingya refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar are registered in Asia. Along with those in Bangladesh, in Malaysia there are 102,000 registered and in India 18,000. There are also some 600,000 Rohingya currently residing in Rakhine State, Myanmar, of whom 140,000 are internally displaced.
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
BMW%20M4%20Competition
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.0%20twin-turbo%20inline%20six-cylinder%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20eight-speed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E503hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20600Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20from%20Dh617%2C600%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Fanney Khan
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United v Manchester City, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
