DHAKA, Aug 22, 2024 (BSS) - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has welcomed South Korea’s three million US dollars contribution through the Joint Response Plan as the humanitarian support for the forcefully displaced people.   
 
This well-timed contribution will strengthen the UNHCR’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and protection for the displaced Rohingya people in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, a press release said here today.
 
“As the humanitarian response for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is approaching the seven-year mark, the sustained support of the Republic of Korea to UNHCR’s activities in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and on Bhasan Char remains invaluable ,” UNHCR Deputy Representative in Bangladesh Soo-Jin Rhee said. 
 
The Korean contribution will support distribution of liquefied petroleum gas, a cleaner cooking energy to Rohingyas and will also advance disability inclusion and strengthen community-based protection efforts to bolster the resilience of the displaced communities. 
 
Pointing out that this aid from Korea is the largest funding to the UNHCR since 2017, the Korean Ambassador Park Young-sik hoped that this contribution will enhance the implementation of UNHCR’s humanitarian response under the Joint Response Plan-2024. 
 
He said this year’s humanitarian assistance from Korea for Rohingyas in Bangladesh has greatly increased and the total funding of USD 10 million. 
 
“The first donation of 15,000 metric tons of rice, the biggest amount throughout the period of humanitarian assistance, demonstrates our firm and continued commitment to providing humanitarian assistance for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh,” the envoy added.
 
Since spearheading liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribution in 2018 as an alternative to cooking with firewood collected from forests, UNHCR has, with the support of donors and partners, helped to reverse environmental degradation in and around the camps, while contributing to refugees’ food security, nutrition, and health. 
 
LPG usage also decreases protection threats on refugee women and girls, and frees up time for children to attend school. 
 
Korea’s contribution will also support the assistance for refugees with disability, including with rehabilitation and assistive devices, and mental health and psychosocial support. 
 
On Bhasan Char, it will ensure the continued provision of community-based protection through running of community centers, provision of lifesaving information, facilitation of community-led projects, and supporting Rohingyas.
 
Seven years into the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh is home to nearly one million Rohingya people, living in the densely populated camps of Cox’s Bazar, and some 35,000 individuals residing on the island of Bhasan Char.