US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has announced in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar that the United States will provide an additional $47 million in humanitarian assistance for Rohingyas in Bangladesh. 

This brings the total United States’ assistance in Bangladesh for the Rohingya crisis to $83 million since August 2017, said the US Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.

US assistance goes to international organization partners on the ground, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Program (WFP), which help provide protection, emergency shelter, food and nutritional assistance, as well as health care and psychosocial support for the more than 600,000 displaced Rohingya from the Rakhine State. 

This assistance is in addition to ongoing development assistance that also benefits host communities in Bangladesh. 

Secretary Tillerson said the humanitarian scale of this crisis is staggering and over 600,000 Rohingya, mostly women and children have fled to Bangladesh, and an unknown number remain internally displaced with limited access to food, water, and shelter.

‘The United States remains dedicated to humanitarian initiatives all over the world and is proud to distribute these funds as part of our ongoing efforts to help those who are suffering,’ he added.